MONTREAL — Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes are golden again on home sand.
The Paris Olympics silver medallists defeated Germany's Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann on Sunday to capture the Montreal Elite16 title on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes took the gold-medal match in straight sets (21-15, 22-20) at Parc Jean-Drapeau, two years after winning the first title of their partnership at the same event.
“There’s something magical about playing on home soil. Clearly for us, we thrive on this energy and this environment. This truly felt like a homecoming after the Olympic Games,” said Humana-Paredes.
“Our goal was to perform at the highest level at this tournament, and I’m go glad it worked out. It was a highlight of the season so far for us — the emotions, the energy, the crowd. It was a peak moment for sure!”
Wilkerson was thrilled with the end result after a tough tournament.
“We knew this was going to be tough. I think some teams were trying to take advantage that a lot of the pressure and attention was on us, but we use it toward building momentum. These are amazing athletes that bring out the best in us. There were such exciting games and it was great to come out on top.”
The Toronto duo also got some revenge en route to the final.
Earlier on Sunday, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes earned a semifinal victory (21-11, 22-20) over Brazil's Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos (Duda) Lisboa in a rematch of last summer's gold-medal match at the Paris Games.
Müller and Tillmann won in three sets (15-21, 21-18, 15-10) over Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova to book their ticket to the final.
Germany will host the next Beach Pro Tour Elite event of the 2025 season, as the city of Hamburg will be the next stop later this month, from Aug. 27-31.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2025.
The Canadian Press
