Nov. 19, 2023: Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain won their first international medal as a team at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge tournament in Chiang Mai, Thailand, today.

The Canadian pair beat Jie Dong and Fan Wang of China in final for third place 2-1 (15-21, 21-16, 15-9).

"This weekend held a lot of firsts for our team, but winning our first medal together definitely tops the list," said two-time Olympian Pavan. "It is so exciting to see the improvement our team has made in such a short time, and I am really proud of Molly for her performance."

Pavan (Kitchener, ON) and McBain (Toronto) won their pool and then eliminated a team from Japan in the playoff round. They then defeated Germany’s Ittlinger/Borger 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

Canada lost to Agatha/ Rebecca of Brazil in the semifinal, with that team going on to win gold over Finland.

On the men’s side, Canada’s entry of Dan Dearing and Sam Schachter finished in the top ten – ranked 9th after being eliminated by Immers/Van De Velde of Netherlands in the round of 16. This Dutch team won the men’s gold today over Poland.

For more information on the Beach Pro Tour:
https://en.volleyballworld.com/beachvolleyball/competitions/beach-pro-tour/

Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676

Photo: Volleyball World