The Canadian women’s duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson improved to 2-0 in pool play at the beach volleyball world championships on Sunday in Mexico.
The No. 4-ranked Toronto pair defeated No. 50 Michelle Amarilla and Erika Bobadilla of Paraguay 21-14, 21-10 — their second consecutive sweep in Apizaco.
Wilkerson led the way with a match-high 17 attack points and four block points.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson opened the tournament with a dominant win over Morocco’s Imane Yakki and Mahassine Siad on Saturday.
Fellow Canadians Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain were defeated by Raïsa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands earlier on Sunday.
The No. 60-ranked pair of Pavan, from Kitchener, Ont., and Toronto’s McBain put up a valiant effort against the seventh-ranked Dutch squad, but ultimately fell 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 15-7).
Stam stepped up with 21 attack points and three block points, while Schoon recorded four aces. McBain led Canada with 20 points.
After dropping their opening match versus the Swiss pair of Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré on Saturday, there was little room for error for the Canadians, as they sit in last in their four-team Pool H heading into their final group match Monday.
The No. 33 men’s pairing of Sam Schachter of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Toronto’s Daniel Dearing bounced back from their opening loss by defeating Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia of Mexico 21-17, 21-12 on Sunday night.
The top two ranked teams from each of the 12 pools, and the best four teams that rank third in their respective pools will qualify for the final phase.
