The Providence Junior Pilots are Volleyball Manitoba Provincial 14U champions.

The Pilots, who were the number one seed, defeated WinMan Warriors 25-20, 23-25, 15-12 in the gold medal game at Brandon University during week one of Volleyball Manitoba’s Provincial Championships.

“Winning this time felt so much better,” said Providence setter Austin Funk. “It was such a sigh of relief because we were expected to win, and we did that and played our best.”

The Pilots lost out in the semifinals at the 2022 Provincials.

This year Providence made it to the finals in all six tournaments they entered and won four of them.

“It’s been an exceptional year for us,” noted head coach Mike Pittman. “I’ve been working with a majority of these boys for two full years now. Last year we saw a little bit of success, but we had some hardship in the semifinals.”

The Pilots defeated WinMan Wolves 26-24, 25-13 and lost to WinMan Warriors 23-25, 25-19, 13-15 in their two Power Pool Matches.

Providence then reeled off four straight wins as they knocked off BVC 25-3, 25-6 in the Crossover Game; swept Vision Warriors Black 25-11, 25-20 in the quarterfinals and beat 204 Gold 25-15, 25-10 in the semifinals.

That set up a rematch with the only team they lost to in Brandon, the WinMan Warriors in the gold medal game.

“It actually helped us out in the end because we remembered that,” said coach Pittman. “That was our downfall last year. We just didn’t lose and then when we faced some adversity, we didn’t know how to overcome that. This year the boys experienced that already, well a lot them did, and then they just overcame it this year. It was amazing.”

“I think what made us a really strong group in general is how everyone stayed together,” said left side hitter Robert Banman. “We didn’t get down on each other. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. We all took responsibility for everything. Having fun with the team and having a great group around you that can really help you win a tournament.”

Right side hitter Carter Pittman explained what the volleyball team learned about themselves after winning the provincial championship. “Can’t get down on ourselves if we make a mistake, we have to move on and forget about it.”

The provincial champion Providence Junior Pilots will be competing at Volleyball Canada’s Youth National 14U Championship May 11th-14th at the Dakota Fieldhouse in Winnipeg.

“Nationals is going to be super exciting,” said coach Pittman. “We’ve already beat the provincial champions from Saskatchewan quite easily. I know it’s a new tournament and they are going to be better too but the way we’ve handled teams in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, I have to be optimistic that we’ll do all right there. No expectations. We’ll worry about our side of the net and that’s all we can really do.”

With content from Michelle Sawatzky