Bansley Defeats Pavan In First Match Since Olympic Breakup

  0 Carly DeMarque | September 14th, 2016 | Beach, News, Pro, Pro Beach

2016 FIVB BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD TOUR FINALS

Match Stats

Newly-formed team Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson won their first match together at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals.

Bansley and Wilkerson easily swept Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan in a quick 35 minute match 2-0 (23-21, 21-13). Pavan and Bansley split up after their fifth place finish at the Olympics.

The match was forced by the fact that Bansley and Pavan, who played to the quarterfinals of the Olympics last month, decided to split up – before they knew that Toronto would be hosting this event, and before they knew that they’d be assured of a qualifying spot as the host nation. In the words of Pavan, the duo at the top of Canadian volleyball felt that they had “maxed out their capacity as a pair.”

Pavan and Humana-Paredes kept the first set close, taking a late 20-18 lead, but Bansley and Wilkerson fought back to tie the set at 20, before forcing a “win-by-two” situation. The second set was a different story, as Bansley and Wilkerson easily took out the pair 21-13.

Bansley and Wilkerson will play Laura Giombini and Marta Menegatti of Italy before taking on Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany to close out Pool D play.

https://twitter.com/SwatchMajors/status/775826886299619328

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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