TODD SOMMERFELDT
Coulee Sports Connection
Addy Foor was excited to make a move to outside hitter as a sophomore for the Aquinas High School volleyball team in the fall of 2022.
But she was also excited about teaming up with freshman Sammy Davis, another promising outside hitter for the Blugolds as they tried to climb to the top of the MVC.
It took them three years, but Aquinas got there this fall by toppling defending champion Holmen and largely using the powerful duo of Foor and Davis to get there.
That one-two punch has spent the past three seasons pushing each other to give the Blugolds an attack that no team wants to see, especially in the postseason.
Davis, now a junior, had 18 kills, and Foor, a senior, added 16 on Thursday as top-seeded Aquinas (24-4) beat eighth-seeded Darlington 25-20, 25-10, 19-25, 25-15 in a WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal at the Reinhart Athletic Complex.
The Blugolds host fourth-seeded Richland Center on Saturday with a regional championship and berth in the sectional semifinals on the line. The Redbirds certainly played their best in the third set and led by as many as 10 points before stopping a late Aquinas run.
“A win’s a win, but we didn’t play the way we wanted to,” Davis said. “We kind of got down in the third set, but we brought it back for the fourth set.”
Aquinas played without starting setter Josephine Lawton due to injury. Junior Lauren Von Ruden filled in and had 38 assists.
And she looked for Davis and Foor whenever possible to help her team advance.
Foor led the team with 301 kills during the regular season, and Davis followed closely behind with 291, so Von Ruden’s approach made sense.
Foor and Davis said they challenge each other in practice, and that has allowed the two to flourish.
“That is exhilarating,” Aquinas coach Daniele Dolan said. “I will also give a ton of credit to my girls who are on the non-starting side of the court because those two are swinging at them the entire practice.
“It’s only making everyone better, and it’s great to see them challenge each other as they go.”
Davis, whose summer focus is on basketball, said she began learning from Foor, a year-round volleyball player, immediately. Foor had a varsity season under her belt, plus plenty more offseason practices and tournaments.
“Addy is a really good volleyball player and utilizes her skills very well,” Davis said. “She’s very smart.
“She knows when to put the ball away, when to tip, when to roll.”
Dolan referred to Foor as the epitome of ‘volleyball IQ’ and agreed with the assessment of her smarts making a big difference for the Blugolds.
Davis also commended Foor’s ability as a calming influence on the court and the authority with which she spikes the ball at the net, adding that she ‘hits it so hard.’
“It’s from a lot of practice,” Food said. “It takes a lot of work, and I’ve played a lot of volleyball.”
Foor wasted little time when describing the strength possessed by Davis.
“Her athleticism, for sure,” the Division II Minnesota-Mankato commit said. “It’s amazing what she can do out there sometimes.”
Dolan has watched all of that as an assistant coach the past two seasons before stepping in this fall after the departure of coach Nellie George. She also considers herself spoiled to have the two of them on her side as she transitioned into running a program.
“I came into this position already seeing what they could do last year and the year before that,” Dolan said. “You see their numbers. One is up there, then the other is, and that’s a strength of our team.
“That’s hard for teams to play.”
That’s been the case in some big matches this season and certainly was in a surprising sweep at second-place Holmen on Oct. 3. Dolan also liked the way her Blugolds played in a sweep of third-place Onalaska in September.
“That’s the caliber they can play at,” she said. “I’ll also say we had some really good tournament play where they fought really hard to tough it out. But that Holmen game was really top tier for this season, for sure.”
