The men's and women's Providence Pilots soccer teams fell just short of winning the NCCAA National Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina this past weekend.

Pilots men won 2-1 over Kentucky  Christian University on Thursday followed by a 1-2 loss to Pensacola Christian College on Friday. Meanwhile, the women placed second overall after taking Grace Bible College 2-0 on Friday and then losing to Bob Jones University 1-0 in overtime on Saturday.

"Making Providence history by reaching second place at nationals was a great feeling," says Doro Schultz. "However in the end that played a lesser role, as we went into the tournament by enjoying the games by playing with our hearts for one another. Our team has become a family, where our friendships show how much we have learned to lean on one another. On and off the field, the girls are there for each other, whether that is by laughing, singing, or crying together. Despite losing in that final game, we made history, but we gained a lot more than history, we gained friends and family."

Julika Phommarath, who won the NCCAA Chrisitan Character Award says, "What comes to mind for me when I think about having played in the national championship game? For me, I think of it as a dream come true. To be able to make it to a championship final at nationals is not something that comes without hard work. Not only that but to bring the 4 time back to back national champs to 9 minutes of OT and almost taking the title, also how strong our team has become. This team has a unity and dedication to one another that could only be woven together by prayer and perseverance through difficult times."

The women's volleyball team was also at the NCCAA National Tournament in Greenville. They fought hard but lost all three games to Bob Jones University, Kentucky Christian University, and Emmaus Bible College.

Head coach Kyle Guenther says, "You always hope when you make it to a National Championship that your team peaks at the right time. Unfortunately for us, that was not the case this week. We did not have our best volleyball this week and the best teams in the country exploited that during our round robin play. I feel that if we would have won the first set of our first match against Bob Jones, our team would have been able to relax a bit more and play a bit more freely. Bob Jones came back and stole that set from us and we played tight the rest of the way. It’s disappointing for this team as they definitely deserved to finish the U.S. season on a better note but we still have a lot of season left where we can find our stride and play to our potential.”

Meanwhile, the men and women's basketball teams had a weekend of playing against the Canadian Mennonite University.

The women played a strong defensive game on Friday and Saturday night but lost 63-49 and 59-37. 

The men lost 93-77 to CMU on Friday but then came back to win 100-77 on Saturday.

“Friday night was a rough shooting night for a usually high powered offensive team. That got us a little discouraged, which caused us to lose our defensive intensity," says head coach Tim Friesen. "We just couldn’t put enough good stretches together. Saturday however, we pushed through a tough first quarter and kept the defensive pressure up the entire game.”

Both teams will now host Red River College on Saturday before heading on the road to Devils Lake and Minneapolis.