The Canadian Women’s beach volleyball team of Taylor Pischke and Melissa Humana-Paredes defeated Uruguay in straight sets, (21-15, 21-14), to improve their record to 3-0 and clinch top spot in Group A at the Pan Am Games. The pair rolled through the preliminary round, not losing a single set.
Canadian Women Stay Perfect in Beach Volleyball, Clinch Group A
Its been a breakout year for the pair, the third ranked women’s team in Canada and 44th in the world. At just 22 years of age each, Pischke and Humana-Paredes are considered extremely young in a sport dominated by women in their early 30s. That said the team is showing great promise in the games, and could be a fixture on the international scene for the next decade. They finished ninth in the FIVB World Championships earlier this year.
Humana-Paredes has already earned the respect of her competitors. A strong defender, she won the 2014 FIVB rookie-of-the-year award. On Wednesday it was clear that the Uruguayans were purposely avoiding hitting their serves to her side of the court, targetting Pischke and challenging the big blocker to dig serves and bury spikes. Pischke was more than up to the challenge on Wednesday. Things were close for half of the first set on Wednesday, but Canada went on a run after the first set break, and never looked back.
The pair both come from strong volleyball bloodlines. Taylor Pischke is the daughter of former Canadian Olympian, as well as national men’s team coach Garth Pischke, while Melissa Humana-Paredes is the daugther Hernan Humana, who coached Canadians John Child and Mark Heese to a bronze medal in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
“It’s happened so fast for them at the international stage,” Garth Pischke said from the stands before their match on Tuesday. “They’re only 22. Most of the best players are 28 to 35. Mentally, they’re extremely tough. I think they can learn a lot more technically and tactically as they mature and play more matches against the top teams in the world. But they’re very strong mentally.”
Humana-Paredes and Pischke will now enjoy a Thursday off before the playoff round begins on Friday.
Main Photo: Kevin Gamble/Last Word on Sports, All Rights Reserved.
