AirVorne Volleyball – Men’s AA/A Series gets started at the Virginia Highlands

The series begins with many newcomers to the Virginia Highlands. 9 out of the 10 teams showed up to battle for the first win of the season…the one team (brothers, I believe) was a no show. To help make up that last team, Tim Kreiner was called to make a special appearance and play with yours truly – ME. Father’s Day started off with a humid hot morning which would led to another warm day. AirVorne Volleyball was honored with two father/son teams: Chris ‘Cajun’ Allemand and his son Christian and Bobby Mitchell, Sr. and his son Bobby, Jr. (at 14, Junior is already 6’-0” and looking to be better than AVP Pro, Ty Loomis from Warner Robins). We were also honored to have Gavin Williams, son of Jared Williams and the parents of Kyle Peters, Jared’s partner at the tournament.

Pool play was long and the sand was extremely hot. A few teams towards the end of the pool play had to forfeit their games due to heat exhaustion. Unfortunately, Tim and I did not do too well because of the last minute entry, but we did have an enjoyable time playing against revivals Hal Mobley and Tracey Pressley…two words to describe this match – “ON TWO”. This strategy worked for the most part in getting the team of Hal and Tracey to argue like they were on the Jerry Springer Show. This was entertainment at its finest.

The result for June 21st’s Men’s Sand Series (after pool play) were:

Yellow Court:
Jared Williams / Kyle Peters – Advance to the Semi-Finals
Mack Kitchel / Mark Reilly – Advance to the Semi-Finals
Bobby Mitchell, Sr. / Bobby Mitchell, Jr.
Lee Marcum / Bert Robertson
Tim Carlson / David Ottmann

Red Court:
Hal Mobley / Tracey Pressley – Advance to the Semi-Finals
Chris ‘Cajun’ Allemand / Christian Allemand – Advance to the Semi-Finals
David Moore / Rob Benedict
Dennis Jocson / Tim Kreiner
Raymond Colon / Carlos Colon

As the Semi-Finals started, most of the teams decided to do 2 out of 3 games to advance to the finals…like the day wasn’t long and hot enough for them. Jared and Kyle battled against the Allemand’s and were victorious 21-18, 21-12. The other Semi-Final was even more of a battle as the teams took it to three games. The first game went to Hal and Tracey 21-16. The second game went to Mack and Riley 21-13. The third game went back and forth…in the end, Mack and Riley advanced winning over Hal and Tracey 15-12.

As the day came closer to the end, the conditions were absolutely ideal which gave both teams a second wind. Mack and Riley looked like they were playing their first game of the day as they won their first game 21-15. But Kyle’s determination and hunger for the game along with Jared’s experience and leadership on the court gave Mack and Riley a run for the money during the second game. At one time during the game, Kyle dug 3 consecutive hits. Unfortunately, Mack and Riley pulled through winning 21-19.

Congratulations to Mack Kitchel and Mark Riley for winning the first tournament of the series!!

I will say this about the tournament…keep your eyes out for the young guns: Kyle Peters, Bobby Mitchell, Jr., Christian Allemand, and even Gavin Williams (peppering star with Melinda Moss). They are and will be the next generation of sand volleyball players…the talents I saw in them throughout the day was the same talent I saw in many of today’s Open players.

For the next tournament in this series, please check back with AirVorne.com.

See you guys on the court…

Dennis Jocson
AirVorne Volleyball, LLC.

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