Defending champions Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured two wins on Thursday at the Montreal Elite stop on the FIVB Beach Pro Tour. The Toronto pair defeated Brazil’s Carolina Horta and Ana Patricia Ramos 21-12, 21-12 in their first match, followed by a 21-13, 21-16 victory against the Lithuanian team of Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are aiming for their third consecutive title after triumphing in 2023 and 2025.
The Montreal tournament did not take place in 2024, the year when Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson advanced to the beach volleyball gold medal match at the Paris Olympics but were defeated by Ramos and Eduarda (Duda) Lisboa. In a satisfying turn of events on Thursday, the Toronto duo outscored the Brazilians 26-18 in attack points and 8-1 in serves.
Lea Monkhouse from Mississauga, Ont., and local favorite Marie-Alex Belanger from Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Que., suffered a 21-15, 21-15 loss to Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia. In the men’s competition, Samuel Schachter of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Jonathan Pickett of Wiarton, Ont., split their two matches, while Cameron Chadwick of Barrie, Ont., and Steven Abrams of Georgetown, Ont., lost both of theirs.
The tournament action will continue until Sunday at Parc Jean-Drapeau.