Both the men's and women's Providence Pilots soccer teams finished first in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference and are now headed to the play-offs.

Head coach Tory Walker says, "We knew all season we were one of the best teams in the league, and I kept reminding our players that they needed to prove it to themselves and the leave that we belong on top. I'm proud of how we played the whole season. This is a determined and focused group."

On Saturday the women's team doubled the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers 4-2 and on Sunday they shutout the Assiniboine Community College Cougars 4-0.

The men's team had a 1-1 draw with CMU on Saturday followed by a 7-1 victory over ACC on Sunday.

"Nothing but hats off to the men, who finished strong this weekend to wrap up first place," notes head coach Joey Passi. "They played tremendously throughout the regular season and deserved this."

The play-offs take place October 28-29 at the Ralph Cantifio Soccer Complex in Winnipeg.

(Photo credit: Heidi Martens)Meanwhile, in volleyball, the Providence Tournament was a good showing for the women's team. In the Lake Region Tournament, the Pilots women overtook Universite de Saint-Boniface, CMU, ACC, and Red River College.

"We are certainly hitting our stride at the right time," says head coach Kyle Guenther. "As we head into the start of the MCAC season, and with the National Christian College Athletic Association Regional Championships less than two weeks away, we are playing our best volleyball of the year."

Both the men's and women's volleyball teams will be playing in the MCAC opener on Friday.

In basketball, the men and women continued their pre-season with exhibition matches in North Dakota. The men won 139-78 and 132-53 over the University of Jamestown while the women lost 134-38 and 94-30 to Mayville State University.

Women's head coach Joel Coursey says, "As difficult as these games were for us we learned a lot about ourselves and will be better prepared for our league games. It can be hard to see the value in playing such tough opponents but we feel it helped us see what top-level teams look like while magnifying areas where we need to improve."

The women will face Rainy River Community College October 28-29 while the men will travel to Mayville October 27-28.