High School
Taylor was a three-year starter at Fort Richmond Collegiate under coach Kristin Shiach ... Was the Centurions three-time MVP, winning the honor in 10th, 11th and 12th grades ... Was voted the No. 1 female volleyball player in the Province of Manitoba and was named to Manitoba's Provincial Graduating All-Star Team and the All-Manitoba Team ... Led Fort Richmond Collegiate to the Provincial High School Volleyball Championship title in 2008 and fifth place finishes in 2009 and 2010 ... Led the team in kills, blocks and digs ... Posted a 72 percent attack average in the West Winnipeg Athletic Conference along with 16 service aces and 19 blocks in 32 sets ... Was named to the WWAC All-Star Team ... In the Centurions' Provincial "AAAA" Championships, she led the team in kills and a No. 8 ranking ... In the quarterfinals Taylor had 29 kills ... Was awarded the Mike Burchuk Award, given annually to the Fort Richmond Collegiate High School Female MVP ... Was awarded four separate scholarships for her volleyball proficiency in combination of her academics and community service ... Taylor graduated magna cum laude and received a proficiency award for leadership for the highest academic standing ... She also served as a morning nursing unit assistant at Victoria General Hospital in Winnipeg and volunteered 230 hours to the hospital by providing services to patients on the medical and surgical wards ... Also competed in basketball, cross-country, beach volleyball and track and field ... As a senior was named to the Provincial Graduating All-Star Team in basketball ... Was a bronze medalist in the high jump and a Provincial cross country runner ... Was nominated for the All-Manitoba basketball team and the Carl Ridd basketball award ... Taylor and her partner won the 2011 Provincial High School Beach Volleyball Championships, which was their second title (also in 2009) ... Was a two-time Provincial High School Athlete of the Week in volleyball and cross country.
Club
Played for Bison Volleyball Club and Shock Volleyball Club ... Won a combined seven Provincial championships and captured five MVP awards ... Also recorded two Candian National Championship titles and two silver medals ... Was selected as a National All-Star four times ... Was named Manitoba's Tachikara Female Volleyball Player of the Year five times ... Was the 2011 recipient of the Cheryl Cable Award, handed out to the under-21 Player of the Year ... Was nominated for Manitoba's Female Junior Athlete of the Year ... While playing for Manitoba's Provincial team (a summer program), Taylor won the Western Canadian Elite Championships on two occasions ... Was also a Canada Summer Games gold medal winner as the youngest member (16) on the under-20 squad ... In the summer beach volleyball program, she won the Canadian National Championship in 2008 and 2010 ... Was a silver medalist in 2007 ... Was nominated for Manitoba's Female Junior Team of the Year in 2011.
Personal
Taylor Mackenzie Pischke was born on April 18, 1993 to parents Garth and Cindy in Winnipeg ... Has an older brother, Dane ... Is a biology major at UCSB ... Aspires to work in either a pharmacy or optometry ... Favorite movies include "Twilight," "Coach Carter" and "The Notebook" ... Favorite reads at Twilight and the Harry Potter series ... Enjoys the music of Taylor Swift ... Favorite sports team is the Misty May-Kerri Walsh beach volleyball team ... Enjoys going to Grand Beach, playing beach volleyball and vacationing in warm places ... Favorite TV shows are Big Brother, One Tree Hill and The Office ... Favorite athlete is Marius Wlazly, a Polish volleyball player ... Calls winning the Canadian Beach National Championship in both 2008 and 2010 her most memorable sporting achievements ... Was also recruited by Colorado State, Oregon State, North Dakota State, Kansas, Georgia Tech and Baylor, along with Canadian universities Trinity Western, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Brandon, Winnipeg, Calgary, Alberta and Dalhousie ... Her father, Garth, is entering his 31st season as Head Coach of the University of Manitoba men's volleyball team and was a member of the Canadian Olympic team at the 1976 Montreal and 1984 Los Angeles games ... He also played professionally in El Paso and Denver in the International Volleyball Association ... Taylor's mother, Cindy, was a three-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport national champion at the University of Saskatchewan and a Junior Canadian Olympic team player ... Taylor's brother, Dane, is currently playing volleyball at the University of Manitoba as an outside hitter.
