Sarah Pavan ponders on dream year in 2019
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 2, 2020 - In the third article of a
series on world champions Sarah Pavan, Melissa Humana-Parades
and their coach Scott Davenport we catch up with the team's
blocker.
Sarah Pavan, 33, has been a terrifying opponent to many and
almost all of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour since 2013.
Awarded best blocker awards on the Tour by her peers on three
separate occasions in 2015, 2017 and 2019, she was still
combining her indoor and beach volleyball careers until 2018.
The indoor format of the sport is something that Pavan ‘still
misses’, having called time on a career that saw her play in
Italy, Brazil, China and Korea to focus on beach.
Like the rest of the volleyball world, Canada's athletes were
waiting to hear if the Olympic Games in Tokyo would go ahead as
planned. It has been a time that Pavan has described as a
‘whirlwind’ as the Olympics were postponed until 2021.
“The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of emotions. I
moved from despair at the potential of not being sent to Tokyo,
to hopeful at the possibility of a postponement, and now to
relief. I am so happy that Melissa and I will have the chance to
fight for the gold medal we have been working our whole lives
for, and that the Olympics will be celebrated in the way that
they are meant to be celebrated - as a united global community”.
It is a feeling of relief for Pavan, who is looking to compete
in her second Games after competing at Rio 2016 and finishing
fifth with former partner Heather Bansley.
She says that 2019 was a dream season for her and her team and
suggests the secret to their success is the fact that
they nurtured their relationship just as much as they worked to
develop their volleyball skills. Their philosophy of looking at
the bigger picture also seems to have had a massive impact on
their success in a season when they created history in becoming
the first team ever from Canada to become world champions.
“2019 was definitely a dream season. We were able to achieve one
of our biggest athletic goals in becoming world champions and
made history in the sport in our country. Being able to
represent Canada in the AVP as well, and to earn a place on the
Manhattan Pier, in addition to winning some other key events
along the way made 2019 a year to remember. I think our team
really settled into a place of comfort in our relationships and
routines, and that made a really big difference for us on the
court.”
The team took a silver in Itapema, an event that took place six
weeks before the World Championships. In the two tournaments
building up to Hamburg, however, they finished only fifth in
Warsaw after a defeat to Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda 'Duda'
Lisboa from Brazil and fell to China’s Chen Xue and Xinxin Wang
for a 17th in Ostrava. Pavan admits they weren’t going into the
World Championships in top form, but they were focused when push
came to shove.
"Honestly, in the lead-up to Hamburg we weren’t playing our best
volleyball. Even during group play, we really had to work
through some difficulties and grind through some matches. It
wasn’t pretty. When it came to crunch time, though, we were
dialled in and we executed at a very high level. I think it’s
great that we went through that. We had some ups and downs
during the tournament, we had our backs against the wall in the
semifinal, but we always found a way to fight through it and
come out on top. Pulling from that experience in Hamburg will
serve us in a big way in future events, especially during the
tough moments.”
Sarah and Melissa have achieved seven wins together in a
partnership which started officially in 2017 and their victories
include some of the biggest titles in the sport. The world
champions have also won the Porec Major, Vienna Major, Gstaad
Major and the Commonwealth Games and when asked what the secret
recipe was down to, Pavan replied: “Our team is very methodical
in our preparation for the season, and we design our strength
training, mental prep, practice, etc. to try to peak for key
events during the year. Periodisation definitely plays a big
role in what we do. We are also fierce competitors, though, and
we spend a lot of time game planning and being in the moment
during competition. There have been events that we have won that
our periodisation didn’t necessarily plan for, and that is
because of our confidence, prep, and fighting spirit.”
Things are very competitive in women’s beach volleyball at the
moment with numerous different teams winning a gold medal on the
World Tour in 2019 and in Pavan’s opinion the sport is better
than it has ever been.
“I started playing beach in 2013, and I am in awe at how much
more physical and talented the pool of teams has gotten in such
a short time. There used to be six to eight teams that were
always battling in the semifinals, but now that number has grown
to at least 15. It is great to see how far the game has come and
how much more creative teams are getting. I would say that
women’s beach volleyball is definitely in the best place it has
ever been, but it is still getting better.”
And when asked about the team's potential favourites tag for the
Games when they take place, it made for a difficult question to
answer.
“I would say that we are definitely in the discussion for medal
contenders. The women’s field has become so strong and so deep
in recent years that on any given day at any given event, I
really believe that there are 15 teams who could make the
semifinals. I believe in our team more than anything, though,
and we have an incredible coach and staff that will be behind us
the whole way. When we are all together and focused, we can do
great things.” |