The Canadian beach volleyball pair, 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 with a score of 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson outperformed their opponents in blocks and digs, setting up a showdown with Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta of Brazil in the upcoming semifinal match. Galil and Tosta advanced by overcoming the American duo of Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg in a closely contested match that ended 21-17, 13-21, 18-16.
For those eager to follow the action, live coverage can be viewed on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The Canadian team of Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who previously clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025 along with an Olympic silver, are determined to analyze their previous encounter with the Brazilian team and leverage their strengths in the upcoming match.
In a separate event earlier on Saturday, the Ontario pair of Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused a major upset by advancing to the men’s semifinals in the FIVB Beach Pro Tournament. The 39th-ranked Canadian team managed to defeat the top-ranked duo of Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson in a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) victory during the quarterfinals at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Schachter and Pickett, hailing from Richmond Hill and Wiarton respectively, also eliminated Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc earlier in the day with a stellar performance.
Reflecting on their success, Schachter attributed their victory to playing solid and consistent volleyball at a high level, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a strong performance. The duo is set to face off against Brazil’s Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and Andre Stein in the upcoming semifinal match scheduled for Sunday morning.
