Canada upsets USA to advance in Olympic beach volleyball
Canada is off the quarterfinals of the Olympic women’s beach volleyball tournament after an upset win over the USA earlier today.
The Canadian duo of Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes were the last team in the tournament to advance to the round of 16 and had to get through formidable American opponents in Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss.
Heading into the tournament, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes were ranked fourth in the tournament. In contrast, Kloth and Nuss entered the Olympics as the second-ranked team.
Those rankings didn’t matter in Paris on Monday as the Canadian duo took home a victory, winning in straight sets at the picturesque Eiffel Tower Stadium.
Volleyball de plage 🏐 : le duo Wilkerson/Humana-Paredes 🇨🇦 se sauve avec la première manche face à l'équipe 2e au monde! 🇺🇲#jeuxolympiques #RCSports #Paris2024 #volleyballdeplage pic.twitter.com/MqhCqwreHN
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 5, 2024
It was anything but easy for the Canadian duo as they had to erase a five-point deficit early and fought to take a razor-thin opening set 21-19. The second set was also a battle, as the Canadians took an early lead only for the Americans to erase it.
Volleyball de plage 🏐 : direction les quarts de finale pour @BrandieWilks et @melissa_hp10! 🤩🇨🇦 #jeuxolympiques #RCSports #Paris2024 #volleyballdeplage pic.twitter.com/htge9MGxX3
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 5, 2024
In the end, Humana-Parades and Wilkerson were able to weather the storm and take the second set 21-18 to propel Canada to a straight-set victory.
This is the second straight Olympics that Canada has advanced to the knockout stage in women’s beach volleyball. Back in 2020, Humana-Parades was paired with Sarah Pavan and had their tournament come to an end in the quarterfinals at the hands of Australia.
This time around, Humana-Parades and Wilkerson will take on the Spanish team of Tania Moreno Matveeva and Daniela Alvarez Mendoza. That quarterfinal match will take place on Wednesday.
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