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Canada's Pavan, Humana-Paredes cruise into semis at beach volleyball Tour finals

CBC
·2 min read
Sarah Pavan, left, of Canada, and teammate Melissa Humana-Paredes are shown in this July 2021 file photo. The duo are competing at the beach volleyball world tour finals in Italy this week. (File/The Associated Press - image credit)
Sarah Pavan, left, of Canada, and teammate Melissa Humana-Paredes are shown in this July 2021 file photo. The duo are competing at the beach volleyball world tour finals in Italy this week. (File/The Associated Press - image credit)

Canadian duo Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes are into the semifinals at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals after an undefeated streak in the preliminary round.

Pavan, of Kitchener, Ont., and Humana-Paredes, of Toronto, beat their American opponents Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil 2-1 on Friday, securing their fourth win in Sardinia, Italy.

Though the Canadians entered without having dropped a set at the tournament, the duo started their run against the United States with a 21-13 loss. But they rallied to take the other two sets (21-14, 15-11) and become the second women's team to bypass the quarter-finals.

Pavan and Humana-Parades will have to defeat an American squad to get the chance to play for gold. Claes and Sponcil will play teammates April Ross and Alexandra Klineman, with the winner advancing to the semifinal match against Canada.

WATCH | Canada defeats American duo Claes and Sponcil:

The Canadians are scheduled to play in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Russia's Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina are the other pair that have booked their ticket. They'll face either Julia Sude and Karla Borger of Germany or Brazil's Agatha and Duda.

The Canadians started their day by continuing their hot start with a third straight-sets victory on Friday.

Pavan and Humana-Paredes ran their record to a perfect 3-0 by scoring a 21-15, 21-11 win against Switzerland's Anouk Verge-Depre and Joanna Heidrich.

WATCH | Canada's victory over Switzerland:

On Wednesday, Pavan and Humana-Paredes beat the top-ranked Brazilian duo of Agatha and Duda, after opening their tourney with a victory over the Netherlands' Madelein Meppelink and Sanne Keizer.

The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Finals runs through Sunday, with the quarter-finals, semifinals and medal matches taking place over the weekend. You can stream the event on CBCSports.ca, as well as catch coverage on Road to the Olympic Games on CBC TV and CBC Gem.