Oct. 6, 2023: Starting today, three Canadian teams – Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing, Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson – will be competing at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The tournament runs from October 6 to 15.
The competition features 48 teams in each gender from 40 different countries, all battling for the title of World Champion. The winning teams from each gender will also take home a share of the $1,000,000 purse and earn their country an automatic bid for Paris 2024.
Schachter/Dearing will be playing in Pool L. The pair is coming off a solid summer, with wins at the Volleyball Canada Beach National Championships and a recent Futures event in Halifax. On Friday at 11:00 p.m. ET (9:00 p.m. local), they’ll kick off Worlds with a match against 14th-ranked Vitor Felipe/Renato of Brazil. Their pool also includes Sarabia/Virgen of Mexico and Abicha/El Azhari of Morocco.
Pavan/McBain drew Pool H. The duo has been finding their footing since teaming up earlier this year, topping out with a ninth-place finish at the Elite 16 in Montreal. They’ll begin the Worlds on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. local) with a match against 21st-ranked Esmee/Zoe of Switzerland. Also in their pool: seventh-ranked Stam/Schoon of the Netherlands and Navas/Gonzalez of Puerto Rico.
Melissa/Brandie find themselves in Pool D. The Canadians have been crushing it on tour this year, with consistent top-five finishes and a breakthrough gold at the Elite 16 in Montreal. On Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. local), they’ll jump-start Worlds with a battle against Yakki/Mahassine of Morocco. They also have Hermannova/Stochlova of Czechia and Erika/Michelle of Paraguay in their pool.
All of the Canadian matches will be streamed on CBC Sports. Find the full schedule and results on the Beach Volleyball World website.
In 2019, then-partners Humana-Paredes and Pavan won the Worlds in Hamburg, Germany. Last year, at the Worlds in Rome, Italy, Ana Patricia/Duda of Brazil took home the women’s title, while Mol/Sorum of Norway snatched gold on the men’s side.
World Rankings
Both Ana Patricia/Duda of Brazil and Mol/Sorum of Norway are back at this year’s Worlds in Mexico, looking to validate their number-one world rankings. The top 17 teams per gender in the world rankings will automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Melissa/Brandie recently jumped to fourth in the women’s world rankings, putting them in a solid position to qualify for Paris. They’ve logged 6,800 points at eight tournaments. At the moment, the Toronto duo looks like Canada’s best shot at the podium.
Right now, Pavan/McBain are sitting at 60th in the world rankings, having earned 2,384 points at six tournaments. A strong finish at this year’s Worlds would help them shoot up in the standings. Here’s the official women’s world rankings.
Schachter/Dearing are ranked 33rd in the world. They’ve earned 3,556 points at 10 tournaments this year. Check out the official men’s world rankings.
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
Photo: Volleyball World
