No Struggles for Canadians Humana-Paredes & Pavan
HUNTINGTON BEACH, USA, May 3, 2018 - They’ve made it look rather
easy in the 11 tournaments since Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes
joined forces on the FIVB World Tour.
In their first full Tour event, they reached the final in the
2017 Rio de Janeiro four-star event. By the time they reached
Croatia a month later, they took home the Porec Major crown.
They’ve never finished below ninth place and have eight top-four
finishes.
“I feel like people think it was instantaneous for us and it was
just like we started playing and started winning and we didn’t
struggle,” Humana-Paredes said. “We did lose our first game ever
together and we don’t talk about it and we forgot about it. It’s
not like we didn’t struggle and have to overcome things.”
Of course, the Canadian duo did have the chemistry required to
remain consistent. Yet they still had work to do, starting with
moving Humana-Paredes from a right-side setter into a left-side
passer. Pavan annually had to rebuild her sand legs and beach
instincts after her indoor seasons ended.
“With any partnership, there are things that go on behind the
scenes and it’s a relationship like any other one,” said Pavan,
who competed in the Rio 2016 Olympics with Heather Bansley.
“Like Mel jokes, I see her more than I see my husband. For it to
work and seem as seamless as it has been, there’s a lot of
honesty and tough conversations that are had and real talk that
a lot of people shy away from. We have those talks when we need
to and we know that we always best interests’ in mind.”
They arrived for the 2018 Huntington Beach as the second-seeded
team after capturing the Xiamen Open in China, which came on the
heels of their victory in the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
They opened their quest for another title on Wednesday with a
21-17, 21-12 win over Americans Lane Carico and Caitlyn Ledoux
in the 48-team double-elimination tournament.
“People might say we’re still in our honeymoon phase,” Humana-Paredes
said. “I can’t speak for Sarah, but I feel I’m still learning so
much I don’t think we’ve reached our peak or even close to it.
We’re learning each tournament, each practice, every time we
come on the court. When we started 2018, it was the beginning of
a new year. We celebrate last year, it was a great stepping
stone, but that’s in the past and we build off of that. They’re
kind of separate in our minds and that’s how we take it.”
On the court, they feed off of their defensive prowess with the
6-foot-5 Pavan patrolling the net and Humana-Paredes scrambling
for everything that might find its way to the back of the court.
They add to the attack with a precise service reception game and
a tough-serving mentality. So it’s not only the personal
chemistry, the on-court formula is formidable.
“One of the things we talk about a lot is that if a team is
going to earn a point on us, we want them to make sure they’ve
earned |