Providence teams rack up 5 wins against Saint-Boniface in MCAC

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This article was published 02/12/2022 (1134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a schedule chock full of away games this season, fans of the Providence Pilots men’s and women’s basketball teams were given a rare treat Nov. 26, as the Pilots came out with a pair of victories against the Universite de Saint-Boniface Rouges in Manitoba Colleges Athletic Confrence (MCAC) action.

The men’s team fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter, but eventually stormed back for a convincing 89-58 victory, erasing their early deficit by half-time.

The women’s game was even less competitive, with Providence crushing their Winnipeg-based opponents by a final score of 102-38.

Both basketball teams will hit the road for their final games of 2022, playing Free Lutheran Bible College in Minneapolis Dec. 1, Emmaus Bible College Dec. 2 and Faith Baptist Bible College Dec. 3. The final two matches of their trip take place in Dubuque, Iowa.

The basketball teams weren’t the only Pilots in action at the Niverville Rec and Resource Centre over the weekend, as Saint-Boniface’s volleyball teams also made the trip to play matches on Nov. 25 and 26.

The women’s team was in for a battle, with Les Rouges heading into their matches undefeated and ranked 10th in the nation. While the Pilots couldn’t pull out a victory in the first match, they were able to finally add a loss to Saint-Boniface’s loss column the next day.

For the men, it was two clean victories, winning both matches 3-0.

It was also a clean sweep for the MCAC player of the week, with Pilots volleyball players taking home both the men’s and women’s awards.

Sebastian Verdaguer took home the honour on the men’s side. The first-year player from Australia had 23 kills across the team’s six sets, despite not playing a flashy position.

“It’s hard for middle blockers to be recognized on a weekly basis, just based off sheer distribution numbers,” Pilots head coach Cody Quiring said in an MCAC news release.

“But Seb has taken his game to another level, enabling the team to find success from all parts of the floor and allowed for more offensive systems to be run. Seb is putting up regular offensive numbers in which an outside hitter would but as a middle hitter.”

New Bothwell’s Tyra Peters was named as the women’s MCAC player of the week, leading her team in kills for both games against Saint-Boniface. In Providence’s victory, Peters had 17 kills, 23 digs, and four service aces.

“This was a great weekend for our team as we took many steps forward but the performance of Tyra was next level,” Pilots head coach Kyle Guenther said in a news release.

“She was constantly relied on as our outlet attacker and she rose to the challenge in a big way. On top of her offensive highlights, she served incredibly tough all weekend, had a great weekend on defence and passed the lights out. We really saw Tyra make an impact on the games in all facets.”

The Pilots will travel to CMU on Dec. 2 to cap off the 2022 volleyball schedule. They’ll next play a home match Jan. 14 when they host the ACC Cougars.