DOHA, Qatar, March 12, 2021 - Top-seeded Sarah
Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada and
second-seeded Alix Klineman and April Ross of
USA will play each other in Friday's women's
final of the 4-star Katara Beach Volleyball Cup
in Doha, Qatar. The two teams successfully
pushed through Thursday's quarterfinals and
semifinals.
In the first semi-final of the day, Alix and
April dominated fellow Americans Emily Stockman
and Kelley Kolinske to a 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) win
and advance to the final. Earlier, Alix and
April delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) win over
another strong team, fifth-seeded Brazilians Ana
Patricia and Rebecca, in the quarterfinals.
In the second semi-final, Pavan and Humana-Paredes
fought through extended sets to celebrate a 2-0
(24-22, 26-24) victory over third-seeded Agatha
Bednarczuk and Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) of
Brazil. A very hard-fought first set was
pushed into overtime. The Canadians denied two
opponent set points before taking a one-set
lead. In set two, the lead went back and forth
and again it was Canada who held up better. They
saved as many as five set points for Brazil
before converting their first match point to
victory.
“We had some up and down moments. We were down
in both sets, but we persisted, we kept fighting
and it paid off. I am really proud of how we
fought through the whole day today,” Pavan said
post-match to Volleyball World.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes had to go through
another tough encounter in Thursday morning’s
quarterfinals. They went to three sets against
Russia’s Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana
Kholomina and came out of it with a 2-1 (22-20,
24-26, 15-9) win.
"We’re quite familiar with the team of Alix and
April and it’s always a battle against them. We
know each other really well, so it’s bound to be
a good game. As always, as long as we focus on
our side, it should be a good match and we
should persevere,” said Humana-Paredes, who
faced the same American team at the 2019 World
Championship to win and qualify for Tokyo 2020.
Yesterday in Doha, the reigning World Champions
eliminated fellow Canadians Brandie Wilkerson
and Heather Bansley in the Round of 16 in three
hard-fought sets: 18-21, 21-18, 15-9. Wilkerson
and Bansley finish 9th in the standings. |