Team Canada is in the quarterfinals in the women’s draw of the 2023 World Beach Volleyball Championships in Mexico. In the women’s round of 16 on Thursday, the Canadian duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Toronto, Ontario defeated Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre of Switzerland 21-14, 21-11.
Wilkerson led Canada with 17 points (15 attack points and two block points). Humana-Paredes had 15 points (11 attack points and four aces). One reason for the Canadian success came down to errors. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes only had a combined eight total errors, while Bobner and Verge-Depre had a combined total of 18 errors.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes will now face Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia in the quarterfinals. Clancy and Artacho del Solar are the reigning Olympic silver medalists from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. In the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games, Clancy and Artacho del Solar beat Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ontario and Humana-Paredes in three sets, 21-15, 19-21, 15-12. Clancy and Artacho del Solar also won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Beach Volleyball Championships in Hamburg, the year Pavan and Humana-Paredes won the gold medal.
The Canadian and Australian matchup is one of four quarterfinals to be played. The other three are the United States versus Brazil, the United States versus Switzerland, and Brazil versus the Netherlands.
