July 28, 2023: After playing through challenging rainy conditions, two Canadian teams — Melissa Humana-Paredes/Brandie Wilkerson and Sarah Pavan/Molly McBain — have advanced to Saturday’s playoff round at the Pro Beach Tour Elite16 in Montreal, Quebec.
Melissa/Brandie entered Friday with a record of 0-1, following a loss to Stam/Schoon of the Netherlands the night before. Fortunately, they got off to a hot start. In their first match of the day, the Canadians won in two sets (21-18, 21-19) against Mariafe/Clancy of Australia, serving up six aces in the process.
Later on, in their rain-drenched match against 16th-ranked Esmée/Zoé of Switzerland, the Canadians took the first set convincingly, 21-13. Then lightning near Parc Jean-Drapeau caused a 30-minute weather delay.
“We just got shelter, stayed warm, had our coach with us,” said Wilkerson. “We had a good rhythm in the first set, so we wanted to keep some of that energy. At the same time, we had to understand that we were coming into a brand-new game, a different circumstance, so we had to reset all over again, like starting another match. It’s uncomfortable, but we train to be in uncomfortable situations. We train to be mentally strong.”
The strategy worked. After the pause in action, Melissa/Brandie finished the job, winning out 21-15 and securing a spot in the playoff round. Match stats here. Wilkerson, whose mother is Swiss, said playing against that country had extra significance. “Every time I hear the fans cheering for Switzerland, I secretly think it’s for me, too. And I know the Swiss athletes, they’re great friends of ours,” she said. “I have a little soft spot in my heart for Switzerland, but it also makes me want to beat them more.”
Next up, in the round of 12, they’ll face off against second-ranked Hughes/Cheng of the U.S. at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Sarah Pavan/Molly McBain needed to play well on Friday, too, coming off a tough loss to Kloth/Nuss of the U.S. in their first match of the main draw. Unfortunately, the Canadians lost their first match of the day, a two-setter (17-21, 19-21) to Scoles/Flint of the U.S. After that, they rebounded nicely, winning a tight two-setter (23-21, 21-19) against seventh-ranked Cannon/Sponcil of the U.S., with Pavan logging eight blocks in the contest.
McBain liked how her squad played on the second day of competition. “I was a lot more aggressive and confident, that was the big difference from yesterday. Sarah’s calls and her setting are always amazing,” she said. “This is only my second Elite16. The first time, in Gstaad, we lost in the prelims. It was great to get more games in this time, to get in a rhythm.”
With a record of 1-2, Pavan/McBain were still able to qualify for the round of 12 on Saturday, when they’ll face off against Agatha/Rebecca of Brazil at 1:00 p.m. local.
There was one Canadian men’s team in competition on Friday, but they didn’t make the cut. Daniel Dearing and Sam Schachter (ranked 34th in the world) were hoping to bounce back, after their loss to Ehlers/Wickler of Germany in the first game of the tournament. On Friday, Dearing/Schachter started things off with a two-set loss (23-25, 19-21) to Solberg/Guto of Brazil, committing 14 errors in the contest.
Later on, a bit of redemption. In their third and final match of the main draw, Dearing/Schachter lost an exciting three-setter (17-21, 26-24, 7-15) to the talented Qatari duo of Cherif/Ahmed, 2020 Olympic bronze medalists. Despite the loss, Schachter felt positive about his team’s performance in the last match.
“It’s not often that we have an opportunity to play in an Elite16 main draw. We understood the level of play was going to be really high,” he said. “There was definitely an adjustment period, but we just continued to build momentum, learn from our mistakes and tweak our game plan, which helped us match the level of our opponent.”
With the three losses, Dearing/Schachter were eliminated.
- WATCH this weekend: Live stream is on CBC Sports in Canada or VBTV.
The SMASH Festival is hosting this Elite 16 World Beach Pro Tour tournament at Parc Jean-Drapeau. This unique event combines sport, entertainment and fun! Action runs until Sunday. Get tickets here.
This year, Canada hosts three Beach Pro Tour events – the just-completed Challenge event in Edmonton (July 20-23), this Elite 16 tournament in Montreal from July 26 to 30 and a Futures event in Halifax in September.
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
Photo: Volleyball World