The Canadian beach volleyball duo of Taylor Pischke and Melissa Humana-Paredes lost a heartbreaking three set marathon to their rivals from Cuba on Sunday, ending the dream of winning a gold medal on home soil.
After dropping a tight first set 21-18, Pischke and Humana-Paredes stormed back to take the second set 21-17 and even the match. However with a light rain starting to fall in the Pan Am Volleyball Park, the Cubans showed their experience and took the third set 15-7. For the 22 year-olds, the Pan Ams was meant to be a learning experience and preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but in coming so close to the gold medal match there is obviously some disappointment.
“I think it would be disappointing whether we were in Canada, whether we were in Brazil or in Mexico,” Humana-Paredes said. “It’s always disappointing losing a semi-final match when you have the opportunity to go for gold. But I think it feels better to be among people who care for you and want you to do well and who are always supporting you. It’s very comforting to know they’re still going to cheer for us in the next match and they were still cheering for us until the last point.”
The ladies fought hard with Pischke winning points by burying spikes, and hitting nice touch shots at the net, and Humana-Paredes coming up with a number of excellent digs, but it would not be enough on this overcast Sunday afternoon.
“I think that our level of play was still pretty good,” said the six-foot Pischke. “It’s tough. Cuba’s amazing. I think we just fell short a little bit. They were on point and there’s not a whole lot more you can do. The Cubans were so athletic, so strong.”
All is not lost for the Canadians thought, as they will be back on the court on Tuesday at 3:00 pm in the women’s bronze medal match. They will be looking to make history, as Canada has never won a medal in Beach Volleyball at the Pan Am Games. For Pischke, the bronze is still something worth winning.
“We have to forget about this match. A bronze medal is pretty amazing too,” said Pischke. “We have to adjust our goals. We obviously wanted to be in that gold-medal match but the bronze medal would be pretty sweet too.”
Main photo via Kevin Gamble/Last Word on Sports, All Rights Reserved.
