PARIS – Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are through to the quarterfinals of the women’s beach volleyball competition at the Paris Olympics after a 2-0 upset of Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss in the Round of 16 on Monday.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, both from Toronto, posted set scores of 21-19, 21-18 in the victory over the Americans, who entered the match ranked second in the world.
The Americans made it tight at the end of the second set, when a block by Kloth evened the score at 18-18.
Wilkerson responded with a block, then Canada won the next two points with Humana-Pareres serving. On match point, the Americans dug to save a block only to have Wilkerson deliver a spike they couldn’t handle.
“It was tight at the end of the sets and that’s all I expected against that team,” Humana-Paredes said. “They are a very strong team. Whenever we’ve had battles with them it goes the distance.
“You have to stay in it and control what you can control and expect they are going to get their points, we are going to get our points and see who’s the last one standing out there.”
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Humana-Paredes had a match-high 15 points and added four points on serve, while Wilkerson had 11 attack points and a match-high five blocks.
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“Definitely a little heartbroken,” said Nuss. “We came in wanting to bring home gold back to the United States. That’s been our goal for the past four years. So to go out in the round of 16 is obviously an earlier exit than we would have liked.”
Wilkerson isn’t just a giant killer in Olympic beach volleyball: She’s an American giant killer. She also eliminated the U.S. pair of Cheng and Sarah Sponcil in the first round of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.
“That’s what she’s good at doing,” Humana-Paredes said with a laugh.
“But honestly,” Wilkerson said, “they’re an amazing team. And it’s a whole new tournament. It’s a whole new Games, whole new atmosphere. We’re all different skill levels from what I was even, four years ago.
“We knew we were going to play this team at some point. They’re one of the best teams in the world. We thought it would be later in the tournament, because we both deserve to have a shot at those medals. But when we’re put in this situation, we were ready to respond.”
The fourth-seeded Canadians advanced to the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win in the “lucky loser” round over Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova of Czechia after finishing third in their group
They will next face Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno on Wednesday.
“We are treating every game like a tournament, like a whole new tournament,” Wilkerson said. “And now we are on to the next one.”
Humana-Paredes believes the Canadians have another gear.
“It’s definitely not our best. It was good and we’re getting better, but it was a gritty win. I don’t think that was our best volleyball,” she said.
“I don’t think it has to be perfect volleyball to win and some of our greatest achievements were not our best volleyball but we played with heart and we stuck together to the end.”
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson advanced to the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games with different partners before joining forces.
With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press