Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson fall in quarterfinals at beach volleyball worlds

Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were knocked out in the quarterfinals at the beach volleyball world championships in Adelaide, Australia on Friday.

The Olympic silver medallists lost 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 9-15) to Brazil's Rebecca Cavalcante and Carol Solberg.

The Canadians entered the elimination round undefeated and hadn't dropped a set all week.

Wilkerson said Brazil pushed Canada into mistakes they didn't make earlier in the tournament.

"It was super intense with every point," she said. "We had some unforced errors, which come from a little disorganization on our side, I guess. Everything is under our control, and they are all things that we can work on."

Brazil held the edge in attack points 38-31 and out-blocked Canada 4-1.

Women's Beach Volleyball World Championships quarterfinals: CAN Humana-Paredes/Wilkerson vs. BRA

Canada led in aces, finishing with four to Brazil's two.

"Our defence didn't quite line up with what we planned for," Humana-Paredes said.

"We didn't quite get the defensive plays when we needed them — which is pretty devastating because that was one of our strongest points all week."

Canada finished the tournament in fifth place.

Both players said the loss still provides something to build on.

"Every time we play, we have lessons learned … the ups and the downs," Humana-Paredes said. "It's going to make us better in the long run."

Wilkerson said the result stings, but highlighted how demanding the post-Olympic year can be.

"We can be proud of ourselves," she said. "The year after the Olympics is tough, and if you look at other medallists, they're injured or not here. And we're here battling in the quarterfinals, deep into the season. That just shows how much work our team has