Feb. 15, 2024 – The Manitoba Bisons will celebrate their rich volleyball history on Friday evening, as they are set to honour a pair of Canada West Hall of Fame inductees.
Women’s volleyball star Kathy Preston and the Bisons 1977-85 men’s volleyball dynasty will both be recognized as the current day Bisons host the Saskatchewan Huskies inside the Investors Group Athletic Centre. The men kick things off at 6 p.m. CT, followed by the women’s match at 7:45 p.m.
The two inductees are the first to be named to the Canada West Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023-24. Six additional inductees will be announced by the conference over the coming weeks.
Preston (Manitoba WVB, 1997-2002) enters the hall in the athlete category and is considered one of the best to ever don the Bisons colours. An elite blocker and attacker, she earned a remarkable four consecutive conference MVP awards and led the Herd to national championships in 2001 and 2002.
Meanwhile, the 1977-85 Bisons men’s volleyball teams left their mark as one of the most dominant dynasties in Canadian university sports history. The team made it to the national final every season over an eight-year span, capturing four national championships as well as eight straight Great Plains Athletic Conference titles.
Tickets for Friday night’s match are available here. Fans can also catch the action live and on-demand on Canada West TV.
Kathy Preston (Athlete)
Manitoba Bisons Women’s Volleyball, 1997-2002
CW Hall of Fame Class of 2023-24
One of the best to ever don the Bisons colours, Kathy Preston (née Hrehirchuk) is synonymous with head coach Ken Bentley‘s commonly-used term of an “every dayer.”
Preston left her mark as one of the best volleyball players of her generation, an elite blocker and attacker who earned four consecutive conference MVP awards and led the Herd to national championships in 2001 and 2002.
Preston was a starter all five seasons at Manitoba and made an impact from the moment she stepped on the court, earning the Great Plains Athletic Association Rookie of the Year award in 1998. She went on to play in four national finals, winning two of them, and is the only five-time national award winner in Bisons women’s volleyball history.
In the 2001 national final, Preston earned MVP honours after recording 17 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 victory over Sherbrooke. It was the icing on top of the cake of an incredible year that saw her finish with a .473 hitting percentage, along with 227 digs, 119 stuff blocks and 147 reject blocks.
Her senior season in 2001-2002 remains one of the best campaigns in conference history. She was named Canada West MVP and the National Player of the Year, hitting a ridiculous .477 with 89 digs, 49 stuff blocks and 55 reject blocks, leading the charge as the Bisons topped Calgary 3-1 in the national final to claim their second consecutive national championship.
She never had an attacking percentage lower than .418 during her five seasons, with her best being .494 in ’99-2000. She also had over 200 digs twice in her career, finishing with 972 overall.
Preston leaves a tremendous legacy as one of the most decorated Bisons student-athletes of all time.
Manitoba Bisons Men’s Volleyball 1977-1985 (Team)
CW Hall of Fame Class of 2023-24
The 1977-85 Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball teams left their mark as one of the most dominant dynasties in Canadian university sports history. The team made it to the national final every season over the eight-year span, capturing four national championships as well as eight straight Great Plains Athletic Conference titles.
It all started with the 1978 squad, who posted an incredible 47-2 overall record on their way to the Bisons’ first-ever Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union title. Under Head Coach Greg Russell, the Bisons were led by 1976 Olympians Garth Pischke and Tom Graham. Pischke, Graham and national team member Ed Vuckets were named First-Team CIAU All-Canadians, setting the stage for a run of prolonged success.
The team would claim their next national title in 1980, led by a roster that featured eight different GPAC All-Stars. The next three years saw three consecutive heartbreaking national final losses, but the Bisons got back on top with back-to-back national title wins in 1984 and 1985. The Bisons were again the most dominant team in Canada during that stretch, going undefeated against Canadian competition with Pischke at the helm as head coach.
The team produced numerous all-stars and All-Canadians during their incredible eight year run of success, leaving behind a legacy that is still felt to this day.
ABOUT THE CANADA WEST HALL OF FAME
For the last century, organized university sport has been a central part of the student experience at institutions across Western Canada. Beginning with the University of Manitoba capturing the first Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) men’s hockey banner in 1919-20, student-athletes have been competing to reach their full potential in sport and the classroom, while enriching campus life.
To commemorate 100 years of university sport across Western Canada, the Canada West Hall of Fame was created in the spring of 2019. This year’s induction class will be unveiled throughout the 2023-24 season.
