Brazil bumps Bansley and Pavan out of beach worlds but history made

Five Canadian teams are in the Netherlands for FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Three women’s teams: Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas, Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan, plus Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke. Two men’s teams: Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter plus Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk are also in Holland. Beach worlds occur every two years, the last was Poland in 2013.

Quarterfinal – July 2nd

Canada’s Bansley and Pavan got tangled in a tight match with Brazil’s Antonelli and Juliana, ultimately falling 2-0 in Amsterdam’s Dam Square.

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Fight back was the theme for Canada beginning in the first set when they fell behind 3-0. Antonelli and Juliana, fifth-ranked on the World Tour, held the lead until a four-point run by Canada put the World Tour no. 2 team ahead 11-9. Then it really became a battle. Waterdown, Ontario’s Heather Bansley was defensively sound and found a rhythm with 6’5″ Sarah Pavan (Kitchener, ON) at the net. The Canadians had two set-points but in the end Brazil prevailed 25-23 in a long set.

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Brazil's Juliana celebrates on the sand in Amsterdam's Dam Square at 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

Brazil’s Juliana celebrates on the sand in Amsterdam’s Dam Square at 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships.

In the second, again Canada spots Brazil a lead, lagging behind 4-1 early. This time the Brazilian team smartened up. Juliana was crafty at the net, pushing her team into a 14-9 lead. Bansley and Pavan would then tally three-straight to get within two, but ultimately couldn’t find another gear losing 21-18 to end a match lasting a touch over 50 minutes.

Despite the loss, by making the quarterfinals Bansley and Pavan had already secured the best-ever world championships finish for a Canadian women’s team, at fifth. It’s also a bump from last beach worlds when they were 17th. Heather Bansley also finished 17th in 2011 with then partner Liz Maloney.

In all, Canada had three teams in the top-10 including Binstock/Schachter and Humana-Paredes/Pischke, both 9th. Broder/Valjas plus Saxton/Schalk both finished 17th.

Round of 16 – July 2nd

And one team remains.

Playing in Amsterdam’s Dam Square, Ontarians Bansley and Pavan swept their Kazakh opponents Mashkova and Tsimbalova 2-0 (21-15, 21-10) in 37 minutes. By moving to a quarterfinal the Canadians are now two stages better than their round-of-32 loss in 2013. They will now take on Juliana Felisberta Da Silva and Maria Antonelli of Brazil, at 2 pm ET on Thursday. [Watch live]

Sarah Pavan (l) celebrates with teammate Heather Bansley at 2015 beach worlds in the Netherlands. (Photo: FIVB)

Sarah Pavan (l) celebrates with teammate Heather Bansley at 2015 beach worlds in the Netherlands. (Photo: FIVB)

In Apeldoorn both Canadian teams fell decisively, Humana-Paredes and Pischke lost 2-0 (15-21, 14-21) to world no. 1 Agatha and Barbara of Brazil. The lone men’s team of Binstock and Schachter were beaten 2-0 (13-21, 14-21) by Americans Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson. “We definitely weren’t ourselves, I think we were a little fatigued,” commented Sam Schachter to FIVB‘s YouTube channel alluding to a quick turnaround from last night’s match.

Gibb and Patterson won the World Tour event prior to beach worlds, “When you have poor pass-set you’re not going to beat any team on the FIVB never mind the team that just won the last tournament,” said a disappointed Binstock. “If we play well and then we get beat it’s easier to accept but when you don’t play your own game you don’t give yourself a chance to win,” Binstock told Nils Köpke for Olympic.ca. Three Canadian teams in the round-of-16 is two more than 2013 when Saxton and Schalk advanced as far as a quarterfinal.

Today’s ousted teams are both of Canada’s selections for Pan Am Games. However, the pairs are also entered in Switzerland’s Gstaad Major next week. Beach volleyball at TO2015 begins on July 13th.

Cover: Sarah Pavan (left) and Heather Bansley (right) (Photo: FIVB)

Round of 32 – July 1st

Down from the 48 teams that began the tournament on June 26th, all five Canadian pairs qualified for today’s round of 32.

Pan Am Games bound Humana-Paredes and Pischke were the first Canucks on the sand, sweeping Slovakian pair Natalia Dubovcova and Dominika Nestarcova 24-22, 21-15.

Next up in Apeldoorn was Broder and Valjas, taking on Brazil’s World Tour no 1. pair Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas De Freitas (Agatha and Barbara). The Canadian veterans lost 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 7-15), falling victim to a third-place pool finish and a more threatening round-of-32 opponent. Bansley and Pavan, the top-ranked Canadians on the World Tour at second, needed 59 minutes in Amsterdam to knock off Germans Karla Borger and Britta Büthe who are ranked fourth on the Tour.

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Both 22-years of age, Toronto’s Humana-Paredes and Winnipeg’s Pischke will try to do what their teammates couldn’t and knock off Brazil’s Agatha and Barbara. Bansley and Pavan have 38th-ranked (World Tour) Tatyana Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova of Kazakhstan. Both games go at 8 am ET on Thursday.

One up one down on the men’s side.

Playing in Amsterdam, Saxton and Schalk ran into Swiss pair Philip Gabathuler and Mirco Gerson and made a few too many third-set mistakes on their way out of worlds. The 2-1 score favoured Gabathuler and Gerson 21-17, 16-21, 15-12. “We made a few errors at bad times in the third and that’s what cost us the game,” Saxton told Nils Köpke for Olympic.ca. The loss stalls their attempt to improve on their quarterfinal result from 2013.

About 88-kilometres away in Apeldoorn, Binstock and Schachter came up on the winning end of a three-set match (14-21, 21-16, 19-17) over Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs of Latvia. The Canadians are sixth-ranked on the World Tour and will continue against eighth-ranked Americans Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson tomorrow at 6 am ET.