Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, the Canadian beach volleyball pair, secured a spot in the semifinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament by defeating Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka from Latvia with a score of 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The Canadian team outperformed their opponents with more blocks and digs. They will now face Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta from Brazil in the upcoming semifinal match, following the Brazilians’ victory over Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg from the United States with a score of 21-17, 13-21, 18-16.
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The duo of Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson previously clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025, with an Olympic silver in between.
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,” reflecting on their previous victory against the Brazilian team during the 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 event 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 Canadian pair, ranked 39th, defeated the top-seeded team of Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson from Sweden with a 2-0 victory (21-19, 21-17) in the quarterfinals at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Hailing from Richmond Hill and Wiarton respectively, Schachter and Pickett also eliminated Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc earlier in the day.
Speaking about their win against the top-ranked team, Schachter stated, “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. That was the difference today.”
The Canadian duo is set to compete against Ren