“Bump!” An experienced player plays the volleyball off his forearms and passes the ball to a teammate.
“Set!” The next player in line attempts to get under the ball to shoot the ball as straight into the air as possible to set up for the killer blow.
“Spike!” The final touch completes the sequence of hits. This hit is meant to impart as much downward force as possible. If successful, a spike is incredibly difficult to return and frequently results in a point for the team that spiked the ball.
Such was the life of Justin Shevock. Although accomplished in many areas of life, Justin’s passion lies with the sport of volleyball.
Justin was born on May 7, 1989 in Virginia Beach, VA to Debbie and George Shevock. His older brother, Bryan, acted as a role model to Justin despite a significant age difference of almost 6 years. The Shevock family has lived in the same house all of Justin’s life. He particularly remembers a playground right outside his backyard. Though the neighborhood was medium sized, Justin has fond memories of having fun all over the neighborhood.
Justin describes his parents as almost opposites. “My mom was more strict, like an overseer. She was always asking, ‘Is your homework done?’ and insisted on seeing it,” he said. He also describes his dad as, “…much more laid back. He was more relaxed than my mom.” This provided a unique balance, which Justin describes positively. He says he enjoyed his mom always watching him and ensuring he did everything he was supposed to do while his dad was not apathetic but approached life more casually.
When he was still a kid, Justin remembers the favorite hangout place being either his friend J.C.’s place or his house. “If we weren’t at my house, we were at J.C.’s house. If we weren’t at J.C.’s house, we were at my house,” Justin recalls. Some favorite forms of entertainment include building Kennex and playing video games.
Justin had all the game systems. He remembers playing, “…an original Nintendo, a Sega, and later a Nintendo 64.” And who can own a Nintendo 64 without playing Super Smash Brothers? He related to me, “of course we played Super Smash.” And who can blame him?
When pressed for a favorite childhood memory, Justin remembered his first experience snow skiing. He said he wasn’t that great, but he vividly remembers, “…my aunt holding me between her legs as we skied.” To this day his family still has a habit of skiing every winter, though Justin now snowboards.
When he wasn’t entertaining himself, Justin was attending Providence Elementary School. He later attended Kempsville Middle school and then Kempsville High School. He had been involved with sports since he was young, playing soccer, baseball, and basketball. Volleyball came later in High School.
He started playing volleyball with his parents. His parents played in a volleyball club and Justin would regularly warm up with them before their game. As he got older and older, his skills became more and more developed.
When the time came to transition to high school, Justin’s parents pushed him to join the high school team. After he made the team, he played the middle-back position. Though he did not have any specially set position until his junior year, he specifically recalls a game during his sophomore year. He said, “I remember that game like it was yesterday. It was close to the end of the game, and the score was also close. I went in to play and subsequently had 3 perfect passes.” His team went on to win the game.
The next year a new position in volleyball had been implemented. This was the position of a “Libero” or a defensive specialist. Wikipedia describes the Libero as such: “Liberos are defensive players, who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve and are usually the players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing skills. Libero means 'free' as they have the ability to substitute for any other player on the court during each play. Liberos wear a different color jersey than their teammates.”
Junior year Justin started playing this position. Because the Libero can substitute for any defensive person at any time, this enabled him to participate in almost every play. He excelled in this position, and also became an excellent setter. The setter “sets” the ball as described before so another player can spike it.
Justin’s volleyball career included many honorable mentions. These included him being appointed to “1st Team All Beach” by the division coaches and “1st Team All Tidewater” by the local newspaper, the Virginia Pilot. These mentions would be similar to being chosen for an “All-star” team.
Looking back on his high school experience, Justin said that he looked up to his volleyball coach and described him as “…a fair coach.” Another of Justin’s childhood friends, Anthony Le, said “Justin’s role model was his coach.”
When he wasn’t playing volleyball, Justin still found things to do. Anthony said, “We were good kids…We just hung out and did stupid stuff. We would laugh at things others wouldn't understand. Justin, myself, and our other best friends would go to the beach a lot.” Justin said that they would regularly go to the beach because his house was ten minutes away from the water. They also made more than a few trips to Williamsburg to enjoy Busch Gardens or Water Country USA.
Though passionate about volleyball, Justin’s academics did not fall by the wayside. He applied early admission Virginia Tech. His brother attends Virginia Tech as a graduate student. He did well in high school, in part perhaps because of his mother.
Socially, Justin describes himself as “someone who has a few close friends.” Instead of seeking to make as many friends as possible, he finds a few close personal friends. Anthony says, “a tightknit bond is the best way to describe how Justin goes about socially. He enjoys meeting new people, and those he runs into, he tends to get to know them pretty well.”
If you were to meet Justin, you would see a guy who is about 6 feet tall, athletic, and has dirty blond hair. You might quickly find out about his volleyball interests. But if you really got to know Justin Shevock, you would soon realize he loves his friends, his family, and his school. Since he is interested in a mechanical engineering degree, the college life will not be the easiest; but Justin will excel, while still finding time to play volleyball.
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