MONTREAL — Canada’s best shot at a beach volleyball gold medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics is through a new team with a lot of history.
Longtime friends Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson officially joined forces in October and head into this week’s Montreal Elite16 tournament as the top-ranked Canadian team.
The two Olympians from Toronto open pool play Thursday night against sixth-ranked Raïsa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands at Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Their relationship dates back to their days competing for York University's volleyball team a decade ago, but Humana-Paredes feels the thought of partnering up really came to fruition when both served as alternates for Canada at the 2016 Rio Games.
“That's kind of what sparked (the idea that) we potentially would play together one day and maybe go to the Olympics one day,” said the 30-year-old Humana-Parades. “I always had this feeling that I would play with Brandie at some point before my career ended.”
After a few years as opponents, the timing finally lined up.
Humana-Paredes and longtime partner Sarah Pavan — who won world championship gold in 2019 — split in August after five years together.
Wilkerson and Heather Bansley, a duo that once held the No. 1 ranking on the FIVB tour, broke up in February last year. Wilkerson then teamed with Sophie Bukovec in a partnership that lasted until the end of last season.
“By the time it got to the end of the year last year, there was a window that we saw that we could play together,” said the 31-year-old Wilkerson. “The timing felt right. We felt like we would really match well with where we were at personally in our careers. So we made the decision, and then just went full throttle.”
So far, so good.
Despite the challenges of building chemistry with a new partner, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, ranked 26th in the world, have placed in the top five in all five of their events this year and look poised for an Olympic berth.
In June, they won gold at a Challenge event in Jurmala, Latvia, and bronze in an Elite16 competition in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
After both players fell out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarterfinals, the new partnership has them noticeably energized as they seek qualification for next summer’s Games.
Humana-Paredes believes they can have a happy marriage for a long time.
"Starting a new partnership has that little bit of a honeymoon phase, for sure. I don't necessarily think it has to end,” she said. “I get good vibes from this team, so I feel like it's gonna last a long time. I think that energy isn't going to wane after six months, after a year."
Kerry MacDonald, a manager for the Canadian beach volleyball national teams, believes it’s a perfect match.
"I knew from Day 1 that this partnership certainly has the makings of being another world championship team and hopefully an Olympic gold medallist,” he said. “All the makings are there.”
While Wilkerson excels as “one of the best blockers in the world,” according to MacDonald, Humana-Paredes, a former FIVB defender of the year, covers the backcourt to make an elite defence.
It’s an arrangement both players could hardly be more pleased with.
“Melissa is the best in the world back there,” said Wilkerson. “I've got no business going there to do anything."
"I get like fingertips over (the net) if I'm trying to block,” added Humana-Paredes. “So we're gonna leave that up to Brandie."
On offence, they have to get a little more creative. Unlike most teams, neither player is over six feet tall — Humana-Paredes is five-foot-nine and Wilkerson is five-foot-11.
That’s a challenge they feel they can overcome, especially considering Wilkerson’s athleticism.
"We're undersized, but I don't think that you could tell necessarily playing against us,” said Humana-Paredes. "I think people are always really surprised when they're like, ‘Brandie, you're actually not six feet?’ You could just never tell, because you're just such a force up there.”
Humana-Paredes says their next step is getting to the point where their systems and flow become second nature — that’s when they’ll become “really dangerous” as a team.
They’re excited to keep taking steps toward that in front of friends and family on home soil for the first time in years.
"The expectation is this one is gonna be lit,” said Wilkerson of the event that runs through Sunday.
MIXING IT UP
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson aren’t the only team with less than a year under its belt heading into Montreal.
New partners Pavan, of Kitchener, Ont., and up-and-comer Molly McBain of Toronto will be in the main draw after finishing 17th in an Edmonton Challenge event last week. They play third-ranked Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss on Thursday.
Bansley, of Waterdown, Ont., and Toronto’s Bukovec — both former Wilkerson teammates — were to play in qualification on Wednesday.
CLOSING THE GAP
Sam Schachter of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Toronto’s Daniel Dearing are the only Canadian men’s team in the main draw, facing off against ninth-ranked Germans Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler to open the tournament on Thursday.
The duo is ranked 34th in the world, but still believes it can compete with the world’s best despite some recent ups and downs — including a qualification loss in Edmonton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2023.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
