Aug. 05, 2022:  Canada’s men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams both advanced to the 2022 Commonwealth Games quarterfinals with 3-0 records.

Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes defeated New Zealand 2-0 (32-30, 21-10) on Wednesday night to seal their pool win, and Dan Dearing and Sam Schachter needed a tie-break set to beat Gambia, but won 2-1 (17-21, 21-19,15-12) last night to top their pool. 

"They did really well – they served tough, the blocker was big, and the defender was siding out very well," said Schachter of his team's competitors on Thursday. "We didn’t have answer early and once we calmed down and found our rhythm, we began to gather a strategy...  We came up with a good defensive strategy in the second and that helped us out a bit."

Teams have been playing to full crowds at the Smithfield beach volleyball venue in Birmingham.

Said Dearing: "Playing in front of these fans has been amazing... each match matters the most if you look at it, and bring on the playoffs!"

-Men’s quarterfinal: 19:00 (2 pm ET) CAN vs CYP
-Women’s quarterfinal 21:00 (4 pm ET) CAN vs SRI

Results: https://www.birmingham2022.com/results/day-by-day
The finals begin on Aug. 05, with the medal matches on Aug. 07.
Watch live CBC Sports online: https://bit.ly/3oInaNm
 
For more information, please contact:
Jackie Skender
Team Canada Media Attaché – Beach Volleyball
+44 7564 050754 (in Birmingham)

Photo: Dave Holland