Hudsonville Invitational Preview: Breakdown & Predictions

<p>Temperatures outside are getting colder, but the temps in the gym are continuing to get hotter and hotter. And no gym is looking to be hotter than Hudsonville's this weekend. </p>   <p>With only nine teams in attendance, this may be a smaller tournament, but it boasts some of the biggest teams in the state this season. Some of the top teams in attendance include Top Ten ranked Hudsonville, Forest Hills Northern, and Forest Hills Central to go along with No. 15 Saline and No. 20 West Ottawa. This could be a blood bath. </p>   <p>It's going to be an exciting weekend of volleyball on the west side of the state and we're going to be breaking it down!</p>   <h2>Pool A</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-embed alignright is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/LineShotVBall/status/1533386607721603074?s=20&t=Ws8iJL27PgYIyjGqNJ6W6w </div></figure>   <p>Pool A sees the home team, Hudsonville, face off against Portage Northern and Covenant Christian. This pool is looking to be one of the easier pools in comparison to the other two. Hudsonville, currently ranked No. 3 in Division 1, will face off against Portage Northern in the contest opener. This will likely be the Eagles biggest challenge before going into bracket play. The Eagles will likely see a similar outcome versus Covenant Christian. </p>   <p>Hudsonville currently has a record of 22-2 on the season with losses to Ann Arbor Skyline and Lakewood. Since the Lakewood loss, the Eagles have been on a 12 game win streak. For Portage Northern, they are looking at a 50/50 season so far, with a key win over D3 Bronson. Covenant Christian, while not much of their schedule can be found, they are looking to be the true underdogs going into the weekend.</p>   <p><strong>Pool Winner Prediction: </strong>Hudsonville</p>   <h2>Pool B</h2>   <p>Pool B may be toughest pool at Hudsonville. With teams like Forest Hills Central, West Ottawa and Unity Christian in the mix. All three of these teams are ranked in Division 1 and 2 respectively. The Forest Hills squads are heavy favorites going into the weekend. FH Central has a pretty damning tandem of pin hitters with [player_tooltip player_id='66299' first='Sarah' last='Dunn'] and [player_tooltip player_id='110332' first='Avery' last='Weslow']. While they have this, West Ottawa is for sure to be a battle for the Rangers. With a similar offensive production from [player_tooltip player_id='108759' first='Raegan' last='Lantz'] and <strong>Chloe Duckworth</strong>. This will be a cut-throat match.</p>   <p>Unity Christian, on paper, looks to be the weaker of the three, but they have been giving teams fits all season. While the Crusaders don't have any big wins, they don't have any big losses either on the season. They've pushed the likes of Hudsonville and Fruitport into extra sets in their contests, just narrowly missing the mark. If they can materialize on the court this weekend, they can be dangerous in pool play. </p>   <p><strong>Pool Winner Prediction: </strong>Forest Hills Central</p>   <h2>Pool C</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-embed alignright is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/LineShotVBall/status/1558161058912772096?s=20&t=Ws8iJL27PgYIyjGqNJ6W6w </div></figure>   <p>Pool C will definitely contend with Pool B for the toughest pool on the day. You have No. 4 ranked Forest Hills Northern, No. 15 ranked Saline and Northview. The opening match of this pool is another tough one, as the top two seeds will go head to head, FH Northern and Saline. This match is very much the tale of pins, as it was in Pool B. FH Northern is led by Miss Volleyball nominee [player_tooltip player_id='66314' first='Kennedy' last='Louisell'] and [player_tooltip player_id='110295' first='Elana' last='Erickson'], while Saline is lead by their duo of [player_tooltip player_id='140484' first='Anna' last='Hesse'] and [player_tooltip player_id='156313' first='Marie' last='Laurio'] on the left side. While it wasn't as obvious in the Central and West Ottawa match, Northern has a clear upper hand with the play of [player_tooltip player_id='110305' first='Kendall' last='Hopewell']. If the left sides of each team cancel each other out, Hopewell will likely be the X-Factor. </p>   <p>Northview isn't a team to scoff over either though. While they're looking like a 50/50 team on the season so far, they have garnered some high level matches in their win column, including Lowell and Byron Center. This team will for sure come to play this weekend and cause a few fits to Northern and Saline.</p>   <p><strong>Pool Winner Prediction: </strong>Forest Hills Northern</p>   <h2>Championship Pool Play</h2>   <p>If we are looking at this based on predictions, we will most likely see Hudsonville, Forest Hills Central and Northern in the gold pool. Each team will play each other once, like pool play, with the winner being crowned off of record. Looking at all three teams' schedule thus far, Hudsonville and FH Northern have yet to go head-to-head. But FH Central has seen both of these teams, to a result in favor of the other team. FH Central could have a lot of fire going into the Championship Pool. </p>   <p>Similar to the pools that preceded the championship pools, the big matches are going to be happening off of the bat. If predictions hold true, we will see No. 3 Hudsonville and No. 4 FH Northern square up in the opening match of championship play. In which, I predict whoever takes this match, will likely take the crown of the Hudsonville Invitational. </p>   <p>I predict FH Northern to be crowned this weekend's champs. Not only ith the fire power they have across the net, the defense that each Louisell, Erickson and Hopewell can play around the court is a lot. This could be all that Hudsonville can handle and more. If Hudsonville can pull it out, it will be off the arm of kills leader, [player_tooltip player_id='172198' first='Isabelle' last='Swiercz']. </p>   <p><strong>Tournament Championship Prediction: </strong>Forest Hills Northern<br><br><em>Join us at the<a href="https://prepdig.com/2022/09/the-prep-dig-top-250-expo-series-is-back-2/"> Prep Dig Top 250 Expo</a>, December 10th! Use code LShotPDExpo250 for 10% off your registration fee. Register before October 19th for the early bird special!</em></p>

Temperatures outside are getting colder, but the temps in the gym are continuing to get hotter and hotter. And no gym is looking to be hotter than Hudsonville's this weekend.