Kyla Richey

Last updated

Kyla Richey
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1989-06-20) 20 June 1989 (age 36)
Roberts Creek, British Columbia
HometownRoberts Creek, British Columbia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight80 kg (180 lb)
Spike309 cm (122 in)
Block292 cm (115 in)
College / University UBC Thunderbirds
Volleyball information
Position Outside hitter
Career
YearsTeams
2012–2013 Flag of Germany.svg SC Potsdam
2013–2014 Flag of Turkey.svg Yeşilyurt Istanbul
2014 Flag of Italy.svg Tiboni Urbino
2014–2015 Flag of Germany.svg Rote Raben Vilsbiburg
2015–2016 Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Azeryol Baku
2016–2017 Flag of Greece.svg Panathinaikos
2017–2018 Flag of Indonesia.svg Jakarta Pertamina Energi
2018–2019 Flag of Peru.svg Universidad San Martín
2019–2020 Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Indias de Mayagüez
2020–2021 Flag of France.svg Stade Français Paris Saint-Cloud
National team
2009–2021 Canada
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Challenger Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Lima Team
Last updated: January 2026

Kyla Richey (born 20 June 1989) is a Canadian former volleyball player. An outside hitter, she represented the Canada women's national volleyball team from 2009 to 2021, earning 143 international caps and serving as team captain from 2018 until her retirement. [1] She is the only Canadian woman to have competed in three FIVB World Championships (2010, 2014, 2018). [2]

Contents

At university level, Richey won five consecutive national championships with the UBC Thunderbirds and was named U Sports Championship MVP in 2009 and U Sports Women's Volleyball Player of the Year in 2011–12. [2] She played professionally in Germany, Turkey, Italy, Azerbaijan, Greece, Indonesia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and France, and was named the top scorer of the Peruvian volleyball league in 2019. [3]

Early life

Richey grew up in Roberts Creek, British Columbia, on the Sunshine Coast. [1] Her father George was a wrestler who competed at the 1974 World Championships and was a CIS champion, while her mother Jan played volleyball at UBC. [4] Richey started playing volleyball at age 10 and first represented Canada when she was in Grade 10. [1]

University career

Richey played U Sports volleyball for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. [5] She won the U Sports National Championship in each of her five seasons with UBC, becoming a five-time national champion. [2]

She was named the Championship MVP for the 2009 championship. [6] In her final year (2011–12), she won the Mary Lyons Award as U Sports Women's Volleyball Player of the Year [7] and was co-recipient of the May Brown Trophy as UBC's outstanding graduating female athlete. [2] She graduated with a Bachelor of Kinesiology in 2012. [4]

Club career

After graduating from UBC, Richey began her professional career with SC Potsdam in the German Bundesliga (2012–13). [8] She then played for Yeşilyurt Istanbul in Turkey (2013–14) and Tiboni Urbino in Italy's Serie A1 in 2014. [8]

She played the 2014–15 season with Rote Raben Vilsbiburg in Germany before joining Azeryol Baku in Azerbaijan (2015–16) and Panathinaikos in Greece (2016–17). [8] In 2017–18, Richey competed in Indonesia's Proliga with Jakarta Pertamina Energi. [8]

Richey played the 2018–19 season in Peru with Universidad San Martín, where she was named the league's top scorer. [3] [9] She spent 2019–20 with Indias de Mayagüez in Puerto Rico and concluded her professional career with Stade Français Paris Saint-Cloud in France's Ligue A Féminine in 2020–21. [8] [10]

National team career

Richey joined Canada's national program in 2005, making the Junior National team while still in high school. [1] She competed at the 2007 NORCECA Continental Women's Junior (U20) Championship before progressing to the senior squad in 2009. [5] [2]

She represented Canada for twelve years on the senior team, appearing in 143 international matches. [2] [1] Richey is the only Canadian woman to compete in three FIVB Volleyball World Championships: the 2010 World Championships in Japan, the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy, [11] and the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. [12]

Richey was named captain of the national team in 2018. [13] Under her captaincy, Canada won the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup in Lima, Peru, defeating the Czech Republic in the final to qualify for the Volleyball Nations League for the first time. [13] She served as captain until her retirement in 2021. [1]

Personal life

Richey had a brother, Connor, who suddenly passed away in 2013. [1] She married former national team player Rudy Verhoeff. [1] After retiring from volleyball, Richey and her husband founded Valley Commons Winery in Oliver, British Columbia. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "From volleyball to vineyard: Kyla Richey retires". Coast Reporter. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Five-time T-Bird volleyball champion Kyla Richey retires from national team". UBC Thunderbirds. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Kyla Richey: "Es asombroso haber logrado el título"". El Comercio (in Spanish). 26 March 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Kyla Richey". Team Canada. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Kyla Richey". UBC Thunderbirds . Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Championship MVP" (PDF). U Sports . Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Mary Lyons Award (Player of the Year)" (PDF). U Sports . Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kyla Richey". Women Volleybox. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Federación Peruana de Vóley reconoció a las mejores jugadoras del año". Exitosa Noticias (in Spanish). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  10. ↑ "Les joueuses" (in French). Les Mariannes. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "Team Roster – Canada". italy2014.fivb.org. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Team Roster - Canada - FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Japan 2018". japan2018.fivb.com. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Women's Team Wins Challenger Cup!". Sport Information Resource Centre. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
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