Canadian preparations underway for U23 beach volleyball world champs
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Melissa Humana-Paredes (left) and Taylor Pischke won bronze at the 2013 U23 world champs |
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Toronto, Canada, January 22, 2014 – Canada’s U23 players have already begun their preparations for the FIVB U23 Beach Volleyball World Championships by attending a training camp at Volleyball Canada’s National Beach Training Centre.
At the inaugural U23 World Championships in 2013 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke won bronze in the women’s competition in Myslowice and this year the tournament will return to the Polish venue and run from June 10 to 15.
Sophie Bukovec and Tia Miric will represent Canada in the women’s competition after they defeated Charlotte Sider and Denise Wooding 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 15-6).
“It is always so natural playing with Tia, that coming together after being apart for so long was not an issue,” Bukovec said. “We have really grown as individuals and as a pair, and we both are very excited to represent Canada in Poland, especially being such a young team. We are looking forward to this upcoming week where we will compete to qualify for the Under 21 World Championships.”
Greg Simone and Gabriel Burlacu will compete in the men’s competition after their 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-9) victory over Aaron Nusbaum and Dallas Keith.
“Playing in the U23 tryout was both exciting and nervous,” said Simone. “It's always nerve wracking to go up against some of the best players to get a chance to represent Canada at the World Championships. My partner and I treated every single point the same and never gave up. We went in determined to get first, and we did. It was our drive to succeed that enabled us to win our games in the third set.”
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