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Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson clinched an Olympic beach volleyball berth for Canada on Sunday, sweeping Americans Megan Kraft and Kelly Cheng in the women’s final at the NORCECA continental qualifier in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
The Paris 2024 silver medallists beat the previously undefeated U.S. duo 21-16, 27-25 at the Areia Sports Complex to secure NORCECA’s lone direct women’s berth for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The quota spot belongs to Canada, with the athletes to be named through the national selection process.
The Canadians needed several match points to close out a marathon second set. Wilkerson’s kill made it 26-25 before the Americans couldn’t keep Humana-Paredes’s serve alive on the final point.
“It feels incredible to have secured something of this magnitude at this point in the season and in the Olympic qualification process,” Humana-Paredes told Volleyball Canada. “I think this tournament was really hard for us, so just winning this tournament always feels good, and having that extra bonus of qualifying for the Olympics is wonderful.
“We can go into our off-season knowing we did great work, and we’ll prepare for next season.”
The Toronto duo didn’t lose a set in the knockout rounds, beating Mexico’s Susana Torres and Abril Flores 21-12, 21-18 in 40 minutes in the semifinals earlier Sunday.
The Mexicans had won Pool A with a 4-0 record, including a 23-21, 21-11 win over the top-seeded Puerto Rican duo of Allanis Navas and Keishlyann Sanchez.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson defeated T ’ara Austin and Taylor Buckner of the U.S. Virgin Islands 21-11, 21-16 in the quarterfinals.
The third-seeded Canadians finished second in Pool B at 3-1, with their lone loss coming against the second-seeded Americans. Canada was the only team to take a set off Kraft and Cheng in the tournament, winning the opener 23-21 in Saturday’s meeting before dropping the next two 21-16, 15-12.
The Americans reached the final with a 21-16, 21-12 win over Navas and Sanchez in 35 minutes.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson became Canada’s first Olympic finalists in beach volleyball at the Paris Games, where they lost to Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa in the gold-medal match.
Canada’s only other Olympic medal in beach volleyball is the bronze won by John Child and Mark Heese at Atlanta 1996, where the sport made its Games debut.
Canada’s Schachter, Pickett finish 3rd
On the men’s side, Canada’s Samuel Schachter and Jonathan Pickett defeated Puerto Rico’s William Rivera and Diego Rosich 21-9, 21-15 in the third-place match later Sunday.
The second-seeded Canadians lost their semifinal 21-19, 21-18 to No. 3 Americans Trevor Crabb and Chase Budinger, who went on to beat top seeds Carlos Andres Ayala and Ines Vargas Lares of Mexico 17-21, 21-15, 19-17 to give the U.S. a second men’s berth alongside its host spot.
Schachter and Pickett went undefeated in Pool B and beat Costa Rica 21-14, 21-14 in the quarterfinals.
Only the winners of the women’s and men’s finals earned direct berths, but Canada can still qualify a second women’s team, along with up to two men’s teams, through the FIVB Olympic Ranking, the 2027 world championships and the 2028 Olympic Qualifier Series. There are 24 quota spots per gender for the 2028 Olympic beach volleyball tournaments.
