GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – With about one month to go until the start of the postseason, the OK-Conference and River Cities Alliance girls volleyball league action continues to heat up. This week, we take a look at the preseason teams to watch for in each division.

 

River Cities Alliance

  • Lowell has taken full control with an early-season sweep of top contender Coopersville and the Red Arrows strong non-conference play has them as one of the top teams in the area.

OK-Conference

    • Gold
      • South Christian has dropped only one set on their way to an undefeated division record with Northview the only team to not get swept by the Sailors. MSR will be at West Catholic next week (October 16) when the Sailors take on the Falcons.]
    • Silver
      • Fruitport and head coach Nicole Bayle survived an early 5-set battle against Hopkins despite being down one of the top players in the area in Gracelynn Olson. The Trojans face off against Calvin Christian on Thursday in a big matchup while 1st year head coach Brittany Smith has Northpointe Christian seeing steady improvement and will be a tough opponent down the stretch for league and district play.
    • Black
      • Zeeland East and Holland Christian had an epic 5-set battle the first time they met in the MSR Match of the Week in which the host Maroons posted a reverse sweep to take control in the conference standings. Unity Christian and Hamilton have had solid seasons thus far but the Chix and Maroons have separated themselves and both are ranked inside our MSR Top-10.
    • Green
      • Jenison is looking to get through the first round of league play undefeated as they face Mona Shores this week while Byron Center lurks behind with their only league setback to the Wildcats in 4 sets. Caledonia, as well as the Sailors of Mona are two teams who have made some noise thus far and look to hold their home-court in league action
    • White
      • FH Northern and GR Christian were the top two teams coming into the season but GR Catholic Central has made some noise in non-conference action. The Cougars are just below the play of FHN and GRC but will be a tough foe down the stretch. The league title is in the eyes of the Eagles of GR Christian after they took down the Huskies in a thrilling 5-set match last week.
    • Red
      • Rockford, Grand Haven and Hudsonville have separated themselves and the Red will be on alert this week as the Buccaneers travel to face the Rams in a battle of two of the top-10 teams in MIVCA D-1 rankings. Both Rockford and Grand Haven posted 4-set wins over Hudsonville the last two weeks before the Eagles won the championship at the Jenison Invite.

 

MSR Weekly Top-10 Poll – OK Conference and River Cities Alliance

  1. Rockford  –  Will play MSR Match of the Week Thursday vs Grand Haven
  2. Lowell – Finished second at the Jenison Invitational with wins over GR Christian and FH Northern before falling to Hudsonville
  3. Jenison – Split with Lowell but fell to Hudsonville in semis of own invite
  4. FH Northern – Fell in 5 to GR Christian but made semis at jenison including win over Grand Haven
  5. Grand Haven – Fell to FH Northern at Jenison, beat Hudsonville in OK-Red
  6. Hudsonville – Won the Jenison Invitational
  7. GR Christian – Outlasted FHN in 5-set thriller, fell to Lowell at Jenison Invite
  8. Byron Center – won lone match of the week
  9. Holland Christian – Hung strong with top-tier teams at Jenison Invite
  10. GR Catholic Central – won the Tourney at Mona Shores

Honorable Mention – Zeeland East, East GR, Caledonia, South Christian , Northview, Fruitport

 

The week that was….

Tuesday

  • OK White – GR Christian def. FH Northern 3-2, FH Central vs. FH Eastern, East GR def Ottawa Hills 3-0
  • OK Green/Red Purple Out – Jenison def Grandville 3-0
  • OK Black – Zeeland East def. Holland 3-0, Unity Christian def. Hamilton 3-0, Holland Christian def Spring Lake 3-0
  • OK Gold – South Christian def Northview 3-1, Thornapple Kellogg def Wayland 3-1, West Catholic def Wyoming 3-0
  • River Cities – Coopersville vs. Kenowa Hills, Sparta vs. Cedar Springs, Lowell def. Allendale 3-0

Thursday

  • OK Green – Mona Shores def. Reeths Puffer 3-0, Jenison def. Caledonia 3-1, Byron Center def Muskegon 3-0
  • OK Red – Grand Haven def Grandville 3-0, Hudsonville def West Ottawa 3-0, Rockford def East Kentwood 3-0
  • OK Black – Zeeland East def. Unity Christian 3-1, Hamilton def Spring Lake 3-0, Holland Christian def Zeeland West 3-0
  • OK Silver – Fruitport  def Kelloggsville 3-0, Calvin Christian def Godwin Heights 3-0, Northpointe Christian def Hopkins 3-2
  • OK Gold – South Christian def. Thornapple Kellogg 3-0

Saturday

  • Jenison Invitational – Hudsonville took home the team title in a tourney that featured 7 of the Top 10 MSR ranked teams! The Eagles defeated Lowell in the finals and Jenison (25-23, 25-23) in the semifinals
  • Mona Shores “Best of the West” – GR Catholic Central picked up the tourney title with 5 wins on the day including their opener over the host Sailors

 

The week ahead….

Tuesday

  • OK White – GR Christian vs. FH Central, East GR vs. GR Catholic Central
  • OK Black – Hamilton vs. Zeeland East, Holland vs. Unity Christian, Spring Lake vs. Zeeland West
  • OK Gold – South Christian vs. Wayland, Northview vs. West Catholic, Thornapple Kellogg vs. Union
  • River Cities – Coopersville vs. Kenowa Hills, Sparta vs. Cedar Springs

Thursday

  • OK Green – Caledonia vs. Muskegon, Jenison vs Mona Shores, Byron Center vs Reeths Puffer (MSR Match of the Week)
  • OK Red – Grand Haven vs Rockford (MSR Match of the Week), Hudsonville vs. East Kentwood, West Ottawa vs Grandville
  • OK Silver – Godwin Heights vs. Kelloggsville, Calvin Christian vs. Fruitport, Hopkins vs. Comstock Park

Saturday

  • Beast of the East Tournament