The Montreal Elite16 tournament witnessed Canadian beach volleyball stars Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson clinch the bronze medal. Despite a challenging match, the duo triumphed over Germany’s Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann with scores of 20-22, 21-12, and 18-16, securing their place on the podium.
Wilkerson displayed a stellar performance with 32 attack points, 5 block points, and a crucial serve point, while Humana-Paredes contributed with 9 attack points. The match encountered a temporary halt due to adverse weather conditions before resuming.
In an earlier semifinal, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson faced a setback, losing 21-19, 20-22, 15-7 to Brazil’s Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta. This defeat dashed their hopes of achieving a three-peat victory, but they bounced back to compete for the bronze against the German pair.
The Canadian duo had previously clinched the Montreal titles in 2023 and 2025, with an Olympic silver medal from the Paris Games in between these victories.
On the men’s side, Canada’s Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett staged a remarkable comeback to claim the bronze medal in a thrilling match against Norway’s Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen. After dropping the opening set, Schachter and Pickett fought back to win the next two sets, securing their first podium finish at home together.
Their journey included a significant upset against the world No. 1 pair in the men’s semifinals, but they narrowly missed out on a spot in the final, losing to Brazil’s Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and André Loyola Stein in a closely contested match.
Fans can relive the exciting moments of Canada’s bronze-medal win by watching the full replay of the match between Canada and Norway in the 2026 World Volleyball Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 Montreal.