MONTREAL — Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, who rode a wave of big wins to the final of the Pro Volleyball World Tour Elite 16 in Montreal, are now beasts of the beach.
The Toronto combo defeated Americans Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint in Sunday's championship final 21-15, 16-21 and 15-13 to win the elite beach volleyball tournament.
The Canadians led in most statistical departments as well — 38-34 in attacks, 5-3 in blocks and one less unforced error. The Americans led in digs and aces.
Earlier in the day Canada edged Chen Xue and Xinya Xia of China in the semifinals 21-19, 17-21, 15-11. The Americans beat Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of Netherlands 21-18, 21-19 in the other semifinal.
The weekend's champions have been on a hot-streak lately, with a string of top-five finishes and gold at the Challenge in Jurmala, Latvia. But this Elite16 was their biggest win yet, since forming a partnership earlier this year. The team came into the tournament ranked 26th, faced three top-five teams — and toughed out a few three-setters — on their path to the championship.
"It’s never going to be easy. To go through challenges and still win, that’s the goal here," said Wilkerson. "To think we would breeze through this thing, that’s super unrealistic. These are the top teams in the world, they’re here for a reason."
Humana-Paredes called the tournament "the ultimate Cinderella" story.
"Honestly, coming into this week, I don’t think we anticipated this," Humana-Paredes said. "We always aim to win, but to have this happen on home soil, it’s a dream come true. The crowd gave us all of the energy we needed, even when we were down, even when we weren’t feeling it. We did this for them."
Added Wilkerson: "This will be in my memories forever. This is our first Elite16 gold together as a team, in front of a Canadian crowd with this much energy, this much love.
"It’s also the first time my family got to see me play live. To come together, to unlock and evolve — it’s beautiful.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2023.
The Canadian Press