Val Serradilha & Shawn Dobanton: Winners of the AVP/Barefoot Series

Lets talk about the team involved in the Final Four of the Grand Championship and how they got here:

The first qualifiers for the Grand Championship are Mike Lawley and Jon Collins.  This young dynamic duo came with alot of heart and passion for the game.  Diving plays and hustling to get to the ball made Mike and Jon a team to contend with.  During pool play of the Grand Championship, they lost all three games…but they did bring a very large supporting crowd to help them throughout the tournament.  Unfortunately, they lost their match against the #1 team from pool play.  The best thing about these guys is that they are young and what I would like to call “The Next Generation” of players.  And based on the crowd that cheer them on, leaders on the court and off the court.  Again, congratulations, Mike and Jon for getting here.  And special congratulations to Mike and Rachel on the recent wedding.

They fought hard through the league giving the birth into the Grand Championship and they are no strangers to the court.  Rich O’Keefe and Chad Borton qualified through the 7-week league and League Championship.  One word can describe this team:  determination.  You can see it on the faces when they are on the court.  Standing at 6′-9″, Big Rich is no stranger to pressure situations and big games.  Chad is probably one of the fastest defenders in the volleyball community and will always get the ball up using both arms unlike some players who only use one arm to stretch out for the ball.  With these skills, they are able to form a great combination of skill and experience.  During pool play, they had a rough start but eventually won a game.  In the semi-finals, it seems as if the little things just wasn’t going their way.  For the third straight time, they lost to the #2 team.  The most memorable moment with you guys is the finals in the League Championship winning the 3rd game to advance to the Grand.  Congratulation to Rich and Chad for a valiant effort and great sportsmanship throughout the entire season.

The surprise team of the League Championship came from Dave Woolsteen and Tracey Pressley.  Throughout the league season, I often wondered about the chemistry between these two.  Dave is a veteran of the game as well as a coach/teacher.  Tracey is a young, crafty player with a little attitude on the court.  So does the coach/teacher mentor the firey young player?  Throughout the league season, I began to notice this mentoring but it came with alot of excuses (yes – Tracey, you do have a tendency of having excuses – just ask Hal).  But I also notice alot of respect that Tracey would give Dave on the court.  I mean Dave has been playing this game for a long long time and still has many tricks that us veterans still can’t figure out.  What makes Dave an amazing player is his sense of awareness of his opponents and his unpredictable plays that gets opponents frustrated.  So did the mentor teach the student successfully?  Answer:  yes.  Seeded 5th in the League Championship, they came out of the League beating the top teams to advance to the Grand.  In the Grand, they continue to dominate the field with only one exception, Val and Shawn.  Congratulations to an amazing season for both Dave and Tracey.

There is not much to say when it comes down to Val and Shawn and their athletic skills on the court.  From the beginning of the league season, every team knew that this was the team to beat.  I remember the first time I met Val at the Virginia Highland courts.  The only memory I had back then was him hand setting outdoors and seeing the 2-4 rotations on the ball…to him, they were good sets…to me, are you kidding me?  The first time I remember seeing Shawn, he was still in high schoool, I think and was smaller back then but saw the passion for the game when he got on the court.  Today, they are a dominating force on the court.  How they got to the Grand Championship, they played in a qualifier against 14 other teams.  But the funny thing about their win, they would qualified in the League giving them a ticket to the Grand as well.  The motivating factor with their win in the Qualifier…Shawn wanted to travel to Cincinnati for another tournament that was scheduled on the same day as the League Championship…which he finished 5th up there in Cincinnati.  So what makes this team dominating…you can’t understand them when they talk to each other unless you speak Spanish…LOL.  Shawn eventually grew up and is now one of the feared players on the court due to his dominating block and huge vertical.  Val’s Brazilian ways and experience of the court has made him into a wanted player that everyone wants to play with.  Also, his attitude on the court is very calming even though he is from Brazil.  In pool play, they cruised into 1st place.  In the semi-final, they defeated the young team of Mike / Jon…(21-18, 21 – 12).  In the finals, they played against the surprise team of Dave / Tracey.  Unfortunately, I was not present for the final match to ref so I left the match in the good hands of Big Rich.  Game #1 as described by Big Rich:  “Dave had 3 [consecutive] beach digs on hard hits to get to 9-11, but Val & Shawn pushed to switch sides at 12-9 and rallied to win Game #1.  Val & Shawn served Dave mostly.”  Game #2 as described by Big Rich:  “At 15-8, Val Kong Block!!  DOMINATION.”  Val and Shawn won the Grand Championship…21-13, 21-10.

CONGRATULATIONS TO VAL SERRADILHA and SHAWN DOBANTON!!!

They are going to Chicago AVP to represent Atlanta and AirVorne Volleyball in the AVPNext Championship.

Thank you to all participants for supporting this series and AirVorne Volleyball.

Dennis Jocson

AirVorne Volleyball