Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson win Huntington Beach Open in pre-Olympic showdown – Orange County Register

HUNTINGTON BEACH — They collapsed together in an embrace under the beating sun, the Canadian duo entering Huntington Beach and knocking down all comers, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson’s Olympic declaration was made and etched on the southern sand from California.

As swarms of fans continued to flock to the stands atop the AVP Huntington Beach Open on Sunday afternoon, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson fielded the best and brightest the United States had to offer. First came Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, USC alumnae and reigning Huntington Beach champions, their option-offensive trickery easily overwhelmed. Next came Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, the former LSU teammates who brought the whole kitchen on Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson over three scintillating sets.

In a few months, they would all be flying to Paris, lounging in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower on the world stage of the Champ De Mars. But for all the promise from the two pairs of American stars, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson left the strongest mark on home soil, with the Canadians finishing off Kloth and Nuss 2-1 (23-21, 18-21, 15-13 ). Sunday to win the women’s category at the Huntington Beach Open.

“With these girls here, the last two teams, they’re with us, we expect to play them in the Olympics,” Wilkerson said a few minutes after the game. “So I think we’re all fighting for that.”

They won that brutal fight on Sunday, with Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson coming back with four straight points in the final set after Nuss and Kloth appeared to have the upper hand. After a few kills, Humana-Paredes scored a crucial ace, setting up an errant Nuss shot that sealed a jubilant comeback.

It was a measure of redemption in Huntington Beach after a disappointing performance in 2023, when Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson finished tied for fifth while Cheng and Hughes took the crown. And as the two men placed a bottle of champagne on the sand, a handful of Canadian fans – a mix of local residents and natives from Montreal – lingered and applauded in patriotic joy.

“Knowing that we have their support from far and near is incredible,” Humana-Paredes said after the match. “And we just hope to continue to inspire and grow this sport, not just in Canada but around the world.”

“I think it’s like the evolution of the game,” she continued. “It’s moving forward.”

Indeed, crowds gathered in the stands above the main court Sunday afternoon for the women’s final, spilling onto the Huntington Beach Pier. Children huddled together on the pier, threading their limbs tightly through the railing to get a comfortable vantage point of the spectacle below. There’s more at stake now, by definition, for this two-decade-old Huntington Beach stalwart: The winner would earn the top spot in the newly formed AVP League, which is scheduled to hold a draft later in the summer.

And playing for that glory, a strong field gradually thinned out over the weekend. Reigning Olympic gold medalists April Ross and Alix Klineman, playing their first tournament together since becoming mothers last year, won their first match but were quickly bounced. Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, who reached the final in Huntington last year, lost their semifinal match to Kloth and Nuss after Scoles suffered an abdominal strain.

However, it ended up working in Scoles’ favor: The 26-year-old USC alumna had planned a small wedding ceremony for Sunday evening at 5 p.m., with the loss giving her plenty of time to take the altar.

“Today’s plan was called ‘Operation: Being Late to My Own Wedding,'” Scoles later laughed. “I failed.”

Kloth and Nuss then faced Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson for the second time, whom they had faced earlier in the weekend and beaten in three sets. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, however, paraded through the consolation bracket before dispatching Hughes and Cheng.