Volleyball Canada – Beach duo golden in Vienna

Aug. 04, 2019:  Canada’s 2019 World Champions Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan defeated Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carol Solberg 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) to win the US$600,000 A1 Major Vienna presented by Swatch in Austria today.
 
“It wasn’t our best match of the tournament, but somehow we kept finding ways to steal some points here and there. The first set was definitely a battle, as I think we were down 15-11, but we kept grinding,” said Pavan of Kitchener, Ontario.  “We’re just so happy…. We finally won Vienna.”

• Full post-match interview: https://youtu.be/baY53zdiAvQ

This is the third gold medal on the World Tour for the Canadians this season – they won the World Championships in Hamburg, the Edmonton 3-star in Alberta and now the Vienna Major, which is a 5-star event.

“It was our goal to win this one, and cap off this six-week stretch on a high note,” said Pavan.
 
“It’s been wild,” Humana-Paredes (Toronto, ON) said of their schedule over the past month and a half, “but with three gold medals and two top-ten results, we cannot complain.”
 
Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa won the Vienna Major bronze medal yesterday 2-0 over Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima, also of Brazil. 
 
Originally scheduled for Saturday, the gold-medal match was postponed due to weather. 
 
Other Canadian results in Vienna: Canada’s Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson were 17th, and in the men’s event Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter – 17th and Ben Saxton/ Grant O’Gorman – 25th.
 
 
Web site http://worldtour.2019.fivb.com/en

Photo : FIVB

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676