Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson start strong at Montreal beach volleyball tournament

MONTREAL - Defending champions Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson began their tournament strong at the Montreal Elite stop on the FIVB Beach Pro Tour circuit on Thursday. The Toronto duo secured two victories in their opening matches.

In the first match, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson triumphed over Brazil's Carolina Horta and Ana Patricia Ramos with scores of 21-12 and 21-12. Following that victory, they continued their winning streak by defeating the Lithuanian pair Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte with a close score of 21-13 and 21-16.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are aiming for their third consecutive title, having claimed the championship in 2023 and 2025. Notably, they missed out on the beach volleyball gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, losing to Ramos and partner Eduarda (Duda) Lisboa in the final.

In their second match, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson demonstrated their dominance by scoring 26-18 points on attack and 8-1 on serves over their Brazilian opponents. Meanwhile, in women's competition, Mississauga's Lea Monkhouse and Quebec's Marie-Alex Bélanger narrowly edged out Latvia's Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova with a score of 21-15, 21-15.

Men's play saw Samuel Schachter of Richmond Hill and Jonathan Pickett from Wiarton claiming two matches each, while Cameron Chadwick of Barrie and Steven Abrams from Georgetown each lost two matches. The competition will continue through Sunday at Parc Jean-Drapeau.