Defending champions Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured two wins on Thursday at the Montreal Elite stop on the FIVB Beach Pro Tour circuit. The Toronto pair defeated Brazil’s Carolina Horta and Ana Patricia Ramos with a score of 21-12, 21-12 in the first match and then went on to win 21-13, 21-16 against Lithuanian duo Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson are aiming for their third consecutive title after claiming victory in 2023 and 2025. In 2024, when there was no tournament in Montreal, the duo had lost to Ramos and Eduarda (Duda) Lisboa in the beach volleyball gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics. However, on Thursday, the Toronto team avenged their loss by outscoring the Brazilians 26-18 in attack points and 8-1 in serves.
Lea Monkhouse of Mississauga, Ont., and local favorite Marie-Alex Belanger of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Que., suffered a 21-15, 21-15 defeat to Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia. In the men’s matches, 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 their matches.
The competition will continue until Sunday at Parc Jean-Drapeau.