The Canadian beach volleyball pair consisting of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured a 22-20, 21-18 victory over Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in the quarterfinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament, keeping their chances alive for a third consecutive win. They displayed superior blocking and digging skills compared to their opponents. The duo will now progress to the semifinals scheduled for Sunday, where they will face Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta from Brazil. The Brazilian pair overcame Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg from the United States with a score of 21-17, 13-21, 18-16.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson had previously clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025, with an Olympic silver in between. Humana-Paredes mentioned their strategy for the upcoming match against Brazil, stating they would analyze their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses from their previous encounter during pool play.
In another exciting match on Saturday, the Ontario duo of Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused an upset by defeating the top-ranked team of Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) to secure a spot in the men’s semifinals of the FIVB Beach Pro Tournament. The Canadian pair, ranked 39th, also eliminated Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc earlier in the day. Schachter attributed their success to playing solid and consistent volleyball at a high level.
Schachter and Pickett are set to meet Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and Andre Stein from Brazil in the semifinals on Sunday morning. Fans can catch the live coverage of the event on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
