May 4, 2024: Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson finish ninth after a loss to Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre of Switzerland in a tie break 1-2 (21-18, 23-25, 10-15) today at the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 in Brasilia, Brazil.
The Canadians looked characteristically strong to win the first set, and then led for most of the second until the Swiss team, still in the hunt for an Olympic spot, mounted a comeback saving multiple match points to win the set and force a tie-break.
On Friday, the Canadian duo secured a spot in the playoff round beating 16th-ranked Ittlinger and Borger of Germany in two sets (21-14, 24-22).
On Thursday, in their first match of the main draw, Melissa and Brandie took down 12th-ranked Tainá and Victoria of Brazil. It was a three setter (19-21, 21-12, 15-11). In their second pool match, the Canadians fell in two sets (13-21, 18-21) to sixth-ranked Stam and Schoon of the Netherlands.
The medal round starts on Sunday. This tournament features many of the best in beach volleyball, with all four of the top women’s teams in the world entered. The same is true on the men’s side. The reigning Olympic gold (Mol and Sorum of Norway) and bronze (Cherif and Ahmed of Qatar) medallists both earned a spot in the quarterfinals.
Full schedule and results are available on the Beach Volleyball World website.
Despite today’s loss, Melissa and Brandie are off to a solid start in 2024. So far, they’ve finished second at the Elite 16 in Doha, Qatar, and tied for fifth at the Beach Pro Tour in Tepic. Most importantly, the pair have already qualified via rankings for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics (official team announcement will come at a later date).
Earlier this week, two other Canadian women’s teams tried to enter the main draw in Brasilia, but neither qualified. Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec, who recently took bronze at the Beach Pro Tour Guadalajara Challenge; and Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain, who are currently in position to potentially qualify for Paris 2024. No Canadian men’s teams were in the mix in Brazil this week.
Photo: Volleyball World
Volleyball Canada Media contact:
Jackie Skender
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