Hamburg, Germany, August 23, 2017 - After starting slow, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan finished fast by defeating compatriots Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson in three sets here Wednesday at the US$800,000 SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals.
Seeded third in Pool C at the Rothenbaum Stadium event, Humana-Paredes and Pavan posted a 2-1 (20-22, 21-12, 15-9) win in 49 minutes over the 11th-seeded Bansley and Wilkerson. After trailing 14-19 and 16-20 in the first set, Humana-Paredes and Pavan had an opportunity to win the opening set after tying it at 20-20.
Humana-Paredes and Pavan, who finished fourth at the 2017 FIVB World Championships earlier this month in Vienna, Austria controlled the tempo in the final two sets in defeating their Canadian rivals for the second-time in three FIVB World Tour meetings. Bansley and Wilkerson won the first match by elimination Humana-Paredes and Pavan last September at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals in Toronto, Canada.
Both teams conclude group action Thursday against sixth-seeded Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic. Bansley and Wilkerson play the Czech pair at 10 a.m. (local time) on a side court while Humana-Paredes and Pavan meet Hermannova and Slukova at the Rothenbaum center court at 4 p.m.