NAME: Kathy Preston
UNIVERSITY: Manitoba
CATEGORY: Student-athlete
SPORT: Women's Volleyball
CW Hall of Fame Class of 2023-24
HIGHLIGHTS:
Four consecutive GPAC Championships (1998-2001)
1998 National Rookie of the Year
Canada West bronze medalist in 2002
GPAC Rookie of the Year, 1998
GPAC MVP, 1999-2001
Canada West MVP, 2002
National Champion in 2001 & 2002
All-Canadian, 1999-2002
National championship MVP, 2001
National Player of the Year, 2002
National championship all-star, 2002
BIOGRAPHY:
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.