The Providence Pilots are back in action after a well-deserved winter break.
In women’s basketball, the Pilots defeated Free Lutheran Bible College 81–39 on January 12. For the next two days, they played Oak Hills Christian College, losing their first game 83–88, then capturing a 112–103 victory the next day.
Head coach Joel Coursey was pleased with his team’s performance.
“This was a great weekend coming out of a long Christmas break,” he says. “I knew it was going to be challenging to get our game legs back and I figured our shooting would have taken a hit. We ran well and shot the ball better than we have all season, so maybe the break is just what we needed. It was a blast scoring 112 points in a tight game. We are excited to see how the rest of the semester plays out.”
The men’s basketball team played three tight games last weekend, defeating Free Lutheran Bible College (FLBC) 90–81, then losing 82–92 and 78–92 against Oak Hills Christian College.
“After two and a half weeks off, our schedule was challenging with three games in three days on the road,” says head coach Pierre Dubreuil. “We started well against FLBC, sticking to our game plan and our strengths to gain a nine-point lead at the end of the game. The next two games were challenging and embarrassing for us. In probably the toughest venue to play in our conference, we scrambled in front of Oak Hills’s ball pressure and high pace in transition.”
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be headed on an American road trip this weekend where they will play a pair of games against the Trinity Bible College Lions.
The women’s volleyball team had a rough return to schedule against the Assiniboine Community College Cougars on January 14. The Pilots lost 2–3 in five sets.
Head coach Kyle Guenther says that his team had a lot of trouble shaking off the rust after their holiday break.
“We didn’t play clean or efficiently and really only showed some fight in the fourth set,” says Guenther. “Somehow we managed to set ourselves up with match points in the fifth set, but we let those slip away. We will look to rebound this week and focus on our defensive play and first contact.”
The men’s volleyball team was ready to roll with a 3–0 win on January 14 versus Assiniboine Community College.
Head coach Cody Quiring says that he is proud of how his team is performing in the second half of conference play. He gives a great deal of credit for the weekend’s win to first-year player Allan Hiebert.
“[Hiebert went] on a tear from the service line when we found ourselves down 18–22 in the first set and finished the set for the team 25–22,” says Quiring.
Both volleyball teams will host the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers this coming weekend.
The Pilots futsal season began on January 14 with the women’s team defeating Assiniboine Community College 5–0, then losing to the Université de Saint-Boniface 4–7.
“It was great to get back in action with this amazing team!” says coach Dustin Martin. “I saw that same winning mentality and relentless positivity that made us national champions in November. From freshmen to seniors, everyone stepped up and stayed committed to our system, while making the small adjustments that can turn the momentum of a game. From here we’re only going to get better and better, and I think we proved that we are on the hunt for another championship.”
Mo Cato, the head coach of the men’s futsal team, shares that his team struggled in their first game of the season. The Pilots lost two games on January 14, first to the Assiniboine Community College 3–7, then to Université de Saint-Boniface 5–7.
“We definitely struggled in our opening weekend games,” says Cato. “There’s a definite learning curve to playing futsal. Some of our upperclassmen showed their experience and some of our freshmen showed their inexperience. However, you could see our improvement from the first game to the second. Sean Kirkpatrick and JoJo Barnes were tremendous in both games. I expect that we’ll see a natural progression as the season unfolds.”
Both Providence futsal teams will face the CMU Blazers and the Brandon Bobcats next weekend.
