Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson post lopsided win in Olympic beach volleyball debut

PARIS — Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson cruised to victory in their first beach volleyball match at the Paris Olympics, defeating Paraguay's Giuliana Poletti and Michelle Valiente Amarilla 2-0 on Monday.

Set scores were 21-16, 21-12 in a match that took 42 minutes to complete.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, both from Toronto, entered Paris as the world No. 3 women's beach volleyball tandem.

They are making their Olympic debut as a team. Both competed at the Tokyo Games with different partners.

Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson will next face Switzerland's Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Boebner on Wednesday.

Also Monday, Heather Bansley of Waterdown, Ont., and Toronto's Sophie Bukovec fell to 0-2 in Paris after a 2-0 loss to China's Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi. Set scores were 21-15, 21-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jully 29, 2024.

The Canadian Press