Melissa Humana-Paredes: I’ve always wanted to monster-block!

But it was not until she teamed up with Sarah Pavan in late 2016 when Melissa claimed her first World Tour medals. From 2017 to 2022, the pair collected five gold, seven silver and two bronze medals on the World Tour, including a runner-up spot at the 2021 Finals in Cagliari, one gold on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, two Commonwealth Games titles and, most importantly, the 2019 world title at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in Hamburg. Melissa also made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, where she and Sarah reached the quarterfinals.

However, right after Melissa & Pavan triumphed at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in August that partnership came to an end and the 1.75m-tall defender joined forces with Brandie in November. They had already clicked when they played together as friends at the AVP Tour Chicago Open in the United States in September and grabbed a prestigious silver. In 2023, Melissa & Brandie appeared at nine Beach Pro Tour events and the World Championship in Mexico and always achieved at least a fifth-place finish. They took two gold medals, at the Jurmala Challenge and the Montreal Elite16, and a bronze at the Ostrava Elite16, in addition to a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago.

Melissa & Brandie are preparing for the upcoming 2024 season of the Beach Pro Tour, during the first half of which they hope to secure their ticket to the Paris Olympics. They are already seeded directly in the main draw of the first Elite16 stop of the year, from March 5 to 9 in Doha.