'Dream come true': Wilkerson, Humana-Paredes win beach volleyball gold on home sand in Montreal
26th-ranked Canadians beat world No. 11 Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles of the U.S.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, who rode a wave of big wins to the final of the Montreal Elite16 beach volleyball event, are now beasts of the beach.
The Toronto duo defeated Americans Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint in Sunday's championship final 21-15, 16-21 and 15-13 to capture gold.
The 26th-ranked Canadians led in most statistical departments as well — 38-34 in attacks, 5-3 in blocks and one less unforced error. The world No. 11 Americans led in digs and aces.
The weekend's champions have been on a hot-streak lately, with a string of top-five finishes and gold at the Challenge in Jurmala, Latvia. But this Elite16 was their biggest win yet, since forming a partnership earlier this year. The team came into the tournament ranked 26th, faced three top-five teams — and toughed out a few three-setters — on their path to the championship.
"It's never going to be easy. To go through challenges and still win, that's the goal here," said Wilkerson. "To think we would breeze through this thing, that's super unrealistic. These are the top teams in the world, they're here for a reason."
O CANADA! 🇨🇦🥇 <br><br>Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes win gold on home sand in the Montreal Elite16 beach volleyball event following a three-set victory over Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles of the U.S. <a href="https://t.co/ifCRW9IAqG">pic.twitter.com/ifCRW9IAqG</a>
—@CBCOlympicsHumana-Paredes called the tournament "the ultimate Cinderella" story.
"Honestly, coming into this week, I don't think we anticipated this," Humana-Paredes said. "We always aim to win, but to have this happen on home soil, it's a dream come true. The crowd gave us all of the energy we needed, even when we were down, even when we weren't feeling it. We did this for them."
Added Wilkerson: "This will be in my memories forever. This is our first Elite16 gold together as a team, in front of a Canadian crowd with this much energy, this much love.
"It's also the first time my family got to see me play live. To come together, to unlock and evolve — it's beautiful."
WATCH | Replay of gold-medal match at Montreal Elite16 tournament:
Backed by a raucous home crowd, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes rebounded from a second-set loss earlier in the day to reach the final.
The left-handed Wilkerson found a hole deep in the backcourt to cement a 15-11 victory in the third and final set against Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia of China, who prevailed 21-17 in the second set.
The Americans defeated the Dutch tandem of Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon 21-18, 21-19 in the other semifinal.
China beat the Netherlands 21-17, 20-22, 16-12 in the third-place game.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes outscored Chen and Xinyi 35-26 on the attack but were outblocked 6-2 while each squad picked up recorded four aces.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson will play for GOLD at the World Volleyball Beach Pro Tour Elite16 stop in Montreal 🇨🇦<br><br>The final will start at 6 pm ET and you can watch it on <a href="https://t.co/iW0WxXRz6i">https://t.co/iW0WxXRz6i</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcgem?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CbcGem</a> <a href="https://t.co/VrEJuo5ts6">pic.twitter.com/VrEJuo5ts6</a>
—@CBCOlympicsWilkerson posted back-to-back aces to cap a first-set win.
Canada stormed out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, highlighted by a Humana-Paredes cross-court point and Wilkerson ace.
A resilient Chinese duo, however, fought back to close the deficit to 8-6. Following a timeout, Canada extended its lead to 11-7, only for its opponent to stay close, trailing 13-11.
The teams exchanged points in the first half of the opening set. The match remained close, with China taking an 18-16 lead, before the Canadians clawed back and drew event at 19-19.
WATCH | Full coverage of Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes's 3-set semifinal win:
In the second set, the Chinese were up 11-9 when it appeared their serve went long and out of bounds. Humana-Paredes, standing a few feet from the line, raised her arm to signal the ball was out but to no avail.
Chen and Xinyi led by as many as five points at 14-9 but Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes made it tough for them to build on the advantage.
- Canada cut the deficit to 15-13 on a Wilkerson kill after a long rally.
- Humana-Paredes tipped a shot that landed a couple of feet inside the line to close to within 16-14.
- A Wilkerson ace pulled the Canadians to within 17-16.
But Chen and Xinyi, who captured gold at the Itapema Challenge in April, responded with a 3-0 run en route to victory.
Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over world No. 3 Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the United States on Saturday.
WATCH l Canada tops U.S. in Montreal Elite16 quarterfinals:
Chen and Xinyi reunited on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour this season after Chen, a 2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist, returned to the sand after nearly a two-year absence. They were partners for the first time between 2013 and 2016.
Sunday's semifinal appearance was their first at an Elite16 event. They took down Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti 21-17, 21-11 in the quarterfinals.
Scoles and Flint had a productive Saturday, beating fellow Americans and Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho of Australia in the round of 12 (21-17, 21-10) before upending world champions Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil in the quarterfinals (14-21, 21-19, 17-15).
WATCH l CBC Sports' Scott Russell speaks with Wilkerson, Humana-Paredes:
With files from Doug Harrison
