Reigning world champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada made it to the quarterfinals in their first international tournament of 2022, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Rosarito, Mexico, in impeccable form.
“I’m glad we’re winning,” an excited Humana-Paredes reacted. “We didn’t really know what to expect coming into here and playing in our first tournament together this year. There are some really great things happening. This tournament is no joke. Every team is so difficult to play and you need to have your A-Game at all times. It really pushes you and tests you. I’m really happy and proud of the team for pushing and grinding, but I think there’s still another level we can reach.”
The Olympians, who had debuted in the tournament with a win on Thursday, got revenge against Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who eliminated them from the Tokyo Games last year, sending the Australians home with a hard-fought, three-set (21-19, 20-22, 15-12) victory in their second match in Pool D.
The result guaranteed the Canadians a place in the elimination round, but they didn’t slow down in the final pool match and topped Dutch Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam, another team they played against in Tokyo, in two sets (21-18, 22-20) to finish first with their undefeated campaign of three victories. They will play American Kelly Claes and Betsi Flint in the quarterfinals.
Pavan/Melissa vs. Stam/Schoon – Match Highlights
“Every single match feels like the semifinals in this tournament,” Pavan added. “Any of these teams could be in the semifinals and that’s why these Elite 16 tournaments are so cool. In order to win, you really need to make sure you’re playing very well. We never know what’s going to happen at the beginning of the season, so the things we’re focusing on are the ones we practised in the pre-season. It’s been working so far, so we’re going to try to stay on course and try to be as good as we can every match.”
Pavan/Melissa went on to play Americans Flint/Claus in the Quarter final losing 2-0 (21-16, 21-18).
Match details can be found here
Megan/Nicole were the only other Canadians competing in the tournament. They lost in the qualification tournament to Brazil’s Talita/Rebecca 2-0 (22-20, 21-15)
Match details can be found here
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