Four months ago, they're first Beach Pro Tour event as volleyball partners ended in a quarterfinal loss. On Sunday, in only their seventh tournament together, Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes became champions for the first time.
The third-seeded Canadians won 12 sets in a row and posted their fifth consecutive sweep to capture the women's title over Switzerland's Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre at the Challenger event in Jurmala, Latvia.
Wilkerson completed a 21-17, 21-17 victory with a monster block, one of her five in the match. "I'm so happy," she said in a story posted to the Volleyball World website. "I had the best time playing with Melissa.
She is the ultimate superstar. This team has been working hard, so it's so good to see it [lead to] a gold medal." On June 4, the Toronto duo won a bronze at the Ostrava Elite16 tournament in the Czech Republic.