OTTERBURNE, MB – In less than one month, the Pilots will once again be hosting the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Volleyball National Championship. Last year, while Providence welcomed teams from across Canada in Niverville for the 2025 Men’s Volleyball Nationals, the Women’s team represented Otterburne for the first time at the CCAA Women’s Championship games in Durham, Ontario.
“Our experience last year and hosting the Women’s Nationals this year is a huge opportunity for our program,” shares Kyle Guenther, who has served at as Head Coach of Women’s Volleyball for the past decade and with the team itself for 16 years. “We’re excited to see Providence Athletics nationally recognized for the second year in a row and to showcase not only what our volleyball program can do, but to put the Providence community on the map in a huge way.”
For many, athletics programming is the first contact they have with Providence itself, and the main reason sophomores Georgia Friesen and Zoe MacLellan attend as student athletes. “I grew up doing the Junior Pilots program,” states Friesen. “Some friends of mine asked me to play with them, we tried out, and all made the team together. Then Kyle reached out, invited me to a couple of practices, and I signed with the Pilots. The school is such a close-knit family-like place that supports one another’s needs, and it’s exciting to see how proud everyone is of each other.”
Besides attracting local students like Friesen, Providence is also a “home away from home” for those like MacLellan who hails from Alberta. “Ever since I stepped foot on campus, I was welcomed with open arms,” remembers MacLellan. “There’s such a community here, where you’re loved and encouraged in everything you do. With a smaller school, you feel so much more known and connected to the people that are there, which is special.”
“We’re looking to walk alongside every student in our program to help them to reach their potential as athletes, and to make our team the best version of ourselves we can be,” continues Guenther. “We want them to be successful on the court and in the classroom; to do well relationally, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. It’s about having a holistic view from the moment students get here until they graduate.”
From small class sizes and high academic standards, to opportunities to explore and deepen one’s faith, to the compassionate support provided to athletes by coaches, professors, staff and fellow teammates, the reasons students choose Providence as the place to pursue higher education are many, which will once again be on public display March 11th to 14th at the CCAA Nationals.
For information about the 2026 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship schedule, tickets and volunteering, visit the RISE AS ONE website. Go Pilots!
