Jessie Niles 




In her five years with the women’s volleyball program, Jessie Niles has become one of the most decorated liberos in Pandas history.
Though she’s now in sole possession of the Pandas’ career digs record, Niles came to the University of Alberta having played outside hitter for nearly her entire career. When starter Erin Walsh fell to an injury in the second half of the 2011-12 season, Niles was given an opportunity to step in, and she never looked back.

Since then, Niles has played almost every match for the Pandas, and said that switching positions has made her more versatile, which has opened up opportunities to play on increasingly bigger stages. After two summers with various national teams, Niles was a member of the Canadian women’s volleyball team that attended the Universiade Games in Guangju, South Korea last summer, finishing sixth out of 16 teams.





“It was a great experience to play in an Olympic-scale event,” Niles said. “Switching positions has opened up a lot of other doors to play on the national team and other high level teams like that.”




With the Pandas, Niles established herself as one of the best liberos in the CIS, and her awards cabinet mirrors that dominance. Named a CIS First-Team All Star twice, she’s featured prominently on a variety of All-Tournament teams. Niles was quick to credit her teammates and coaches for her success, but said she’d trade the rest of her hardware for a CIS Title. The last title the Pandas volleyball program won was in 2007, three years before Niles started her degree.
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