Cougars’ star Peake named CCAA volleyball all-Canadian

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/03/2025 (248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kylee Peake thought her shot at reaching the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championship ended weeks ago.

While her Assiniboine College Cougars lost a narrow Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference women’s volleyball semifinal, the Cougars star touched down in Oshawa, Ont., on Tuesday. Later that day, she was named a CCAA all-Canadian at the awards banquet ahead of today’s quarterfinals.

“I honestly didn’t know it was a thing,” Peake said of the award, which she’s the first-ever Assiniboine athlete to receive.

“I definitely wish my team was here and we got to play but I’m very grateful I get to be here and my coaches gave me the opportunity to get this award. It’s awesome.”

The Binscarth native has never been one to chase individual accolades — but they pile up nonetheless. She has a case for MCAC athlete of the week more weekends than not, as one of just three players to record more than 200 kills in the regular season.

She finished second with 2.91 kills per set, behind player of the year and all-Canadian Tyra Peters of the Providence Pilots, who qualified for nationals as league champions.

Peake also posted a .199 hitting percentage, good for seventh in the league while drawing plenty of attention from opposing blockers. Recording at least eight kills in all but three of the first 15 matches will do that.

“They keyed on me but that made it easier for my team to get some kills too,” Peake said. “It was definitely harder for me, they were really on me and trying to stop me. It was definitely challenging this year.

“I just kept it consistent, I wasn’t trying anything crazy and played my game. I feel like there’s a bunch of leaders on our team this year so it was easy for all of us. It wasn’t all on one person.”

While it’s harder for the individual to notice their own growth, Peake’s teammates certainly noticed. Setter Ava Plamondon, who has played with Peake for four years, saw the biggest change in her leadership.

“Before, she was to herself and a bit quiet but this year I saw she was leading everyone on the court. She always had a great mindset, great attitude and that’s just huge,” Plamondon said.

“A big thing is her body language. She never looked too defeated and if anyone else did, she would always try to pick them up. She was always someone you could really rely on to not get too in her own head and not get down on herself.

“If she was on her game, everyone else was.”

The five-foot-nine left side carried the Cougars to a massive 3-2 victory over the Pilots during the second semester with 15 kills and just five errors before extending a winning streak to four straight with two more five-set victories over Canadian Mennonite University.

She racked up 18 and 14 kills, respectively, in those matches.

They were nearly enough to push Assiniboine to second place and home-court advantage for the semifinal, which the Cougars lost 3-1 to the host Blazers.

It’s never felt more possible for the Cougars to make that breakthrough to the league final and possibly beyond than with Peake in the lineup.

“It’s hard to find six-rotation people that do everything well,” said Cougars coach Kevin Neufeld. “She’s one of the top all-around players and attackers in the league and there are some good ones. There’s some good outside hitters at for sure CMU and Prov … so good for her to get that honour.”

It’s reading week at AC, so Peake is free to take in the action at nationals. But it’s unlikely the thought of wanting to be more than just a spectator leaves her mind. She wants to bring her teammates in 2026 when the Pilots host, meaning two representatives from the MCAC will take part.

“Very, very much my goal, our goal,” Peake said. “I really hope we can do that and I see it happening.”

QUICK HITS: At men’s nationals in Niverville, Sebastian Verdaguer and Noah Boschman of the host Pilots were named all-Canadians on Tuesday. They start their tournament today, along with the MCAC finalist Blazers.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5