Melissa and Brandie keep their record clean with Round of 16 sweep

COURTESY VOLLEYBALL WORLD: The Canadians dominated Spanish Dani and Tania and earned their fifth two-set victory in Adelaide.

Canadian Olympic medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson continue to progress unharmed at the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in Australia.

On Thursday, they secured their fifth-straight two-set victory in the tournament held in Adelaide, beating Spanish Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) in the Round of 16, and get to the quarterfinals with their record perfectly clean.

The silver medalists of last year’s Paris Oylmpics, Melissa and Brandie are both looking to return to the World Championship final in Adelaide – Melissa won the 2019 edition of the tournament with Sarah Pavan, while Brandie earned silver with Sophie Bukovec three years later. So far, the Canadians have been firm in their path, having won their three pool matches, their Round of 32 encounter and their Round of 16 duel all without dropping sets.

On Friday, at 21:30 local time (10:50 TUC), however, they will face a team that has the same campaign in Brazilian Olympians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcante. The South Americans had a strong Round of 16 performance on Thursday, taking down Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) victory.

Tina and Anastasia also keep rolling

Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasia Samoilova have also overcome every challenge they faced so far in Adelaide, making it to the quarterfinals with five straight sweeps. On Thursday, the Europeans met Germans Melanie Paul and Lea Kunst in the Round of 16 and took care of business, winning 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) to continue pushing for their first World Championship medal.

Standing against them on Friday, at 15:30 local time (5:00 UTC), will be defending champion Kelly Cheng of the United States and her new partner Molly Shaw. The two also had a smooth Round of 16 victory, taking Czechs Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova down 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) to move into the quarterfinals with four wins and a loss.

All four women’s quarterfinals will be held on Friday in Adelaide. The semifinals will follow on Saturday and the medal matches will end the event on Sunday.