Canadian beach volleyball players Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured a spot in the semifinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament by defeating Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson outperformed their opponents with more blocks and digs, setting up a matchup against Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta of Brazil in the upcoming semifinals. The Brazilian duo overcame the American pair of Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg with a score of 21-17, 13-21, 18-16.
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Having previously won the 2023 and 2025 titles, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson have their sights set on another victory after claiming an Olympic silver medal in the past.
Reflecting on their upcoming match against the Brazilian team, Humana-Paredes mentioned, “We are going to watch the video of them (Brazil) and see what they are doing well and see what we did well against them and bring that into tomorrow,” referring to their successful encounter during pool play.
Watch Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson take on Latvia’s Anastasija Samoilova and Tīna Graudiņa at the Beach Pro Tour stop in Montreal.
In another exciting match earlier on Saturday, the Ontario duo of Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused an upset by advancing to the men’s semifinals in the FIVB Beach Pro Tournament.
The 39th-ranked Canadian pair defeated the top-seeded team of Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson with a score of 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Hailing from Richmond Hill and Wiarton, Ontario, Schachter and Pickett also triumphed over Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc in an earlier match on the same day.
Commenting on their victory against the top-ranked team, Schachter noted, “I don’t think we did anything crazy or exceptional, we didn’t have as many flashy plays as in the other games, we just played good, basic volleyball at a really good level and were consistent.