Canadian beach volleyball duo Humana-Paredes and Pavan win third gold medal

VIENNA – Canada’s beach volleyball champions Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan have clinched gold and won US$40,000 at the A1 Major Vienna in Austria.

Volleyball Canada says the 2019 world champions defeated Brazil’s Maria Antonelli and Carol Solberg 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in Sunday’s final.

This is the third gold medal on the world tour for the duo, who won the Edmonton Open in July and the volleyball world championship in Hamburg earlier that month.

Pavan, from Kitchener, Ont., says the first set was “definitely a battle” but they fought through.

She says they were determined to “cap off this six-week stretch on a high note.”

Humana-Paredes of Toronto adds that their record over the past month-and-a-half has “been wild.”

“But with three gold medals and two top-ten results, we cannot complain,” said Humana-Paredes.

“It wasn’t our best match of the tournament, but somehow we kept finding ways to steal some points here and there,” Pavan said of Sunday’s win.

“We’re just so happy…. We finally won Vienna.”