Yahoo Sports Pavan, Humana-Paredes rally past fellow Canadians at FIVB World Tour event
Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson continue to be a resilient duo, but a lack of finish proved costly again Saturday.
Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes won 2-0 (21-19, 24-22) in pool play at a FIVB World Tour 4-star beach volleyball event in Mexico, improving to 2-0 at the tournament and 8-2 lifetime against their fellow Canadians.
The reigning world champions also prevailed 2-0 in the quarter-finals on Monday at the first of three events FIVB, volleyball's world governing body, arranged in a hub environment in Cancun. The world's top-ranked tandem went on to win a second straight silver medal on Tuesday to open the season.
On Saturday, Bansley and Wilkerson won five consecutive points to go up 17-12 in the second set, only to have Pavan and Humana-Paredes draw even at 19-19 when Wilkerson touched the ball as it appeared to be headed out of bounds.
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After Pavan finished off a long rally to take a 21-20 lead, a Wilkerson kill evened matters. Then, Humana-Paredes' shot eluded Wilkerson but the latter tied the match 22-22 with strong net play.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes ended the match after Wilkerson served long.
Handling call, missed serve hurt
Trailing 20-18 in the opening set, Bansley and Wilkerson closed to within a point before Wilkerson's serve sailed out of bounds to end the game.
On Monday, Bansley and Wilkerson closed to within a point at 15-14 and later 18-17 in the second set before the former's ace tied the set 19-19. After Pavan and Humana-Paredes went up 20-19 on a handling call to Bansley, she evened matters with a kill.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes took the match following a missed serve by Wilkerson and a Humana-Paredes ace, with the ball landing on the line.
On March 12, Pavan and Humana-Paredes earned a silver medal at the Katara Beach World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
On their way to the podium, they fought back from a first-set loss to Bansley and Wilkerson to prevail 21-18 and 15-9.
Bansley and Wilkerson saw their record fall to 1-1 in the second Cancun competition after they opened with a 2-0 victory over Americans Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings on Friday.
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