Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes advanced to the Montreal Elite16 beach volleyball tournament semifinals with a 2-1 victory over World No. 3 Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S. on Saturday.
The 26th-ranked Toronto duo clinched the first set 21-15 before dropping the second 14-21. The hosts won the tiebreaker 15-8 to improve to 4-1 in the tournament.
Humana-Paredes, 30, posted a game-high 26 points, with two coming from aces. Wilkerson, 31, tallied 14, including two aces and a block point.
“This tournament has challenged us. Every team is hard to play against,” Humana-Paredes said. “We’re still getting our footing together, to continually produce these performances, but we definitely belong here. There’s no question in our mind.”
WATCH l Canada tops U.S. in Montreal Elite16 quarterfinals:
Watch Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson face Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth in the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 from Montreal.
The Canadians will face 2008 Beijing bronze medallist Xue Chen and fellow Olympian Xia Xinyi in the semifinals set for 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. The Chinese duo defeated Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-0 on Saturday.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes beat 2nd-ranked Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes of the U.S. 2-1 (21-15, 14-21, 15-8) in the round of 12 earlier on Saturday in the first of two winning efforts against top3-ranked duos.
Fellow Canadians Sarah Pavan, 36, and Molly McBain, 25, were ousted after a 2-0 (13-21, 24-26) round-of-12 loss to Bednarczuk and Cavalcanti, finishing tied for ninth.
Pavan of Kitchener, Ont., and Toronto-native McBain teammed up earlier in 2023. Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, the top-ranked Canadian duo, have been competing as a duo since October.
In men’s play, the solo Canadian duo of Jake MacNeil and Alex Russell was eliminated in group play after three losses in three games.
The women’s tournament’s final is set for 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the bronze-medal match scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
WATCH l CBC Sports’ Scott Russell speaks with Wilkerson, Humana-Paredes:
Canada’s top women’s beach volleyball team of Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes talk to Scott Russell about recent success on the sand.
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