Pilots men’s volleyball extend dynasty with 4-peat

It didn’t feel like a college volleyball championship, but the Providence Pilots men’s volleyball team got the job done, defeating Canadian Mennonite University 2-1 in their best-of-three match Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference finals Feb 28/March 1. It was the team’s fourth consecutive MCAC championship.

After game one was postponed due to road closures conditions Feb. 27, the league made the call to move game two and three to March 1, with game three scheduled for just three sets.

“I don’t have any words right now,” finals most valuable player Liam Buhler said following the championship win.

“It kind of felt like high school again. We wanted to take care of business in our first game, then get out of the gym as quick as possible, get some rest, get some food in, and come back ready.”

After the Blazers won the first match, Providence came out firing in second, forcing a decisive third match they dominated.

The Pilots took a 19-6 lead in the first set and a 20-10 lead in the second set, holding off a late charge from CMU to clinch a memorable championship.

Even head coach Paul Armbruster seemed taken aback at the level his team was able to reach during the third match of the series, noting Providence middles Lukas Klassen and Buhler were dominant in defense, especially when they closed to player of the year Cole Doell’s side of the court, making for a formidable trio for opposition hitters to face.

“We were able to get a lot of good slowdowns, stuffs from our middles closing so well,” Armbruster said.

“(The middles) don’t always a ton of glory and attention.”

Armbruster said he advocated for games on three separate days, but it was clear the Pilots were ready for whatever format was chosen.

“I was very impressed with our guys finished today, they just came out fired up and executed at a very high level,” Armbruster said.

“There wasn’t any sort of excuse about being tired.”

Left side Cayden Williams was unable to play in game one of the championship, but rallied through a shoulder injury to get on the court for game two and three the next day. Setter Marcus Zeilstra was also able to put in some work despite injury.

Armbruster said he was thinking of Tom Brady’s mentality as his team prepared for a potential championship winning day. The star NFL quarterback said he treated every game, even in the pre-season as the Super Bowl, so when it came time to win a trophy, he was ready to perform.

“Even though we lost last night, I was quite happy, I though the group was composed, we just needed to bring a little bit more compete,” Armbruster said on the group’s mentality after the first match loss.

“The group had a lot of belief that good things would happen today. We were chatting a bunch today about ‘don’t be in the past, don’t be in the future just be in the present.’”

The atmosphere inside the Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre was excellent for both matches March 1, with plenty of fans doing what the players did, quickly re-fuelling between games before returning.

“The energy in here was electric, it felt like a national championship,” Buhler said.

“We felt so blessed and supported,” Armbruster added.

“Pilots nation were so good.”

With number one setter Zeilstra out for most of the year, the burden shifted to Jesse Peters and Tristan Manning to step in to fill the role, not only during games but also in practices to keep the team sharp.

“This team’s superpower is team,” Armbruster said, noting he thought the conference was as strong as he’s seen it this year.

“Lots of guys are contributing. It was a group effort in a huge way.”

The Pilots will be playing at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championships in Edmonton beginning March 11.

The women’s CCAA nationals are in Niverville this year, with the host Pilots likely to be set as the eighth seed after missing out on the MCAC playoffs.

Assiniboine College won their first MCAC women’s volleyball banner, defeating CMU 2-0, only dropping a single set in the best-of-three match final.

Providence’s women’s basketball team were upset in the semi-finals of the North Region National Christian Colleges Athletic Association Division 2 championship. Entering the tournament as the top seed, the Pilots fell to fifth seeded Crown College 71-67.

The men’s team upset third seeded Trinity to get to the semi-finals, before falling to Crown College in the semis as well.

The College will move to a only MCAC schedule next season for basketball, as Red River College re-joins the league.