It was a great day for three Canadian women’s beach volleyball teams on the opening day of the 2022 World Beach Volleyball Championships in Rome on Friday. The 24-year-old Richmond, British Columbia twins of Megan McNamara and Nicole McNamara steamrolled past Colombia’s Diana Rios and Margarita Guzman, 21-11, 21-13. Then, Sophie Bukovec and Brandie Wilkerson of Toronto, Ontario beat the Swiss duo of Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre 24-22, 21-17. The two Canadian wins were followed by a dominant 21-17, 21-6 victory by the reigning world champions, Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ontario, and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Toronto, as they beat Alisha Stevens and Georgia Johnson of Australia.
The fact that the three Canadian teams did not lose a set is very impressive. All three teams looked to be in complete control throughout their entire matches and were rarely tested.
However, the most mind-boggling set was the second set win by Pavan and Humana-Paredes, who only gave up six points. There was only one other women’s team on Friday that had a more dominant set. On center court, Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands defeated Angel Williams and Ximena Nunez of Costa Rica 21-5 in the first set. Action will continue on Saturday, however Pavan and Humana-Paredes have a day off.