Lake Orion Tournament Weekend Preview
Prep Dig Staff
On Friday, MHSAA volleyball will officially kick off its competitive season. This weekend, Lake Orion will be the host of one of the first competitive tournaments of the season. 28 teams will gather at the Elite Sports Plex in Waterford to battle to be crowned as one of the first 2018 tournament champions of the season. The format will be seven pools of 4 teams. Gold playoff brackets will be determined by the top two teams in each pool.
Players to Watch in the tournament - Wren Macauley (Lake Orion), Paige Briggs (Lake Orion), Hannah Grant (Northville), Emma Schlageck (St. Catherine), Ainsley Guse (Stoney Creek), Jordan Valley (Haslett), Claire Nowicki (Clarkston), Nina Tylutki (New Boston), Jessica Robinson (Troy), Francesca McBride (Troy), Kendall Murray (Skyline), Gabriella Kellogg Plymouth Christian
Below are our tournament favorites:
Lake Orion (#2 in Division 1) - Lake Orion is loaded this year at virtually every position. They own our pre-season #2 ranking and will be the favorite in a lot of early tournaments. Setter Wren Macauley is connecting well with OH Paige Briggs.
Northville (#9 in Division 1) - Northville is led by ball control experts Hannah Grant and Ally Zayan. Junior MH Claire McNamara is also a player to watch this tournament
Stoney Creek (#10 in Division 1) - Stoney Creek is led by outside hitter Kate Stration and setter Stephanie Smith. Coach Ross Talbott will have a couple solid middles and junior rightside Kathryn Yatooma. Don't be surprised if Stoney takes home the trophy this weekend.
Other teams to watch - Clarkston (#6 in Division 1), St. Catherine Academy (#10 in Division 2), and Plymouth Christian Academy (#1 in Division 4)
Predictions
Pool A - Lake Orion, Holly, Lakeland, and Rochester
Look for Lake Orion and Lakeland to come out 1 and 2.
Pool B - Northville, Country Day, St. Catherine, and Fraser
Northville and St. Catherine will be the top 2 our of the pool.
Pool C - Stoney Creek, Marysville, Flushing, and Haslett
One of the tougher pools, we expect Stoney Creek and Haslett to come out of the pool
Pool D - Clarkston, Grand Blanc, Canton, and New Boston
Clarkston and Grand Blanc should hold their seeds coming out of the pool.
Pool E - Rochester Adams, Brandon, Athens, & Walled Lake Western
In probably the weakest pool of the tournament, Rochester Adams and Troy Athens edge out Brandon and WLW to move on.
Pool F - Troy, Mason, Milford, and Salem
Jessica Robinson and Troy should win this pool with Milford edging Mason.
Pool G - Skyline, Plymouth Christian, Oxford, and Groves
Plymouth Christian edges Skyline to jump its seed going into the playoffs.
Bracket Play
In the 1st round of Gold, Lake Orion and Northville get the two bye's for the bracket. Skyline takes out Milford in 3. Clarkston edges St. Catherine in 3. Haslett upsets Adams in 2. Stoney beats Lakeland pretty easily in two. Troy gets by Grand Blanc in 3. Plymouth Christian easily gets by Athens in 2 to move on to the quarters.
Quarters - Lake Orion and Clarkston swoop through the quarters beating Skyline and Haslett respectively. Stoney edges Troy in 3 and Northville takes care of PCA in 2.
Semi's - In the first of many matchups this season, Lake Orion takes the early season bragging rights over Clarkston in 3. Stoney Creek, riding the setting of Stephanie Smith and the arm of Kate Stration, take out Northville in 3.
Finals - In the battle of quite possibly the top two teams in the OAA Red, Lake Orion edges Stoney Creek in 3 in the finals.
