Pandas hitter helped power championship machine

EDMONTON – A winner of five straight national titles, Jenny Benkie embodied the University of Alberta’s women’s volleyball dynasty of the 1990s.

Benkie was a power hitter with the Pandas from 1995-96 through 1999-2000, a span that saw Alberta win both the CIAU and Canada West championship every season. Thursday she entered the CW Hall of Fame.

Along with unprecedented team success, Benkie received scores of individual honours, most prominently her CIAU Female Athlete of the Year award in 1999-00, and the CIAU women’s volleyball Player of the Year award in 1998-99 and 1999-00.

Benkie represented Canada at the FISU Games three times and following her university career, went on to spend several years with the Canadian national team while playing pro volleyball in Belgium and Sweden.

To read more about Benkie's career, click here.

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, with the first induction class set to be unveiled throughout the 2019-20 season. 

VISIT: CanadaWestHallofFame.org