The Canadian beach volleyball pair comprising Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured a place in the semifinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament by defeating Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka with a score of 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson displayed superior blocking and digging skills compared to their opponents. They will now face Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta of Brazil in the upcoming semifinal match, following Brazil’s victory over the American duo of Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg in a close match.
To catch the action live, tune in to CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Notably, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson had previously clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025, with an Olympic silver in between. Humana-Paredes mentioned reviewing Brazil’s gameplay to strategize for the upcoming match, having already defeated them during the pool stage.
In another exciting development, the Ontario pair Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused a major upset by advancing to the men’s semifinals of the FIVB Beach Pro Tournament. The 39th-ranked Canadian duo defeated the top-ranked team of Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson with a score of 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in the quarterfinals at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Schachter and Pickett, hailing from Richmond Hill and Wiarton respectively, also secured a victory against Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc earlier in the day. Schachter credited their success to playing solid and consistent volleyball at a high level against the top-ranked opponents.
The Ontario pair is set to face Brazil’s Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and Andre Stein in the semifinal match on Sunday morning. Viewers can catch the full replay of Schachter and Pickett’s quarterfinal win for an in-depth look at their impressive performance in the tournament.