The Canadian beach volleyball pair comprising of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured a victory against Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in the quarterfinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament. With a score of 22-20, 21-18, the Canadians displayed a strong performance with more blocks and digs than their opponents. Advancing to the semifinals, they are set to face Brazil’s Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta, who overcame the American duo of Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg in a hard-fought match.
Having previously clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are aiming for a three-peat in the tournament. Reflecting on their upcoming match against Brazil, Humana-Paredes mentioned analyzing their opponents’ gameplay and leveraging their previous success against them during pool play.
In a surprising turn of events, the Ontario duo of Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused an upset by defeating the world’s top-ranked team, Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, with a score of 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in the men’s quarterfinals. The Canadians exhibited a solid performance, emphasizing consistency and strong fundamental play to secure the victory. They are now gearing up to face Brazil’s Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and Andre Stein in the semifinals on Sunday.
Fans can catch the live coverage of the tournament on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem to witness the thrilling matches unfold on the beach volleyball court in Montreal.
