Fresh off winning a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes will headline the AVP Chicago Open on Labor Day weekend.
Returning to Chicago is special for the Canadian duo, as they first played together here in 2022.
“Technically, this spot was the first time Melissa and I ever played volleyball together,” Wilkerson said. “That event that we paired up for, we weren’t officially a team. We were kind of just giving it a go because obviously we both played on the AVP and our partner situation had changed, so we’re like, let’s just try it out.
“Chicago is such an amazing city and such a well-run tournament, and we made it to the finals in our first time ever playing together.”
Their partnership has been fruitful, culminating in the silver medal earlier this month in Paris. Their Olympic tournament didn’t start well, as they dropped matches to Switzerland and Latvia in pool play. But a win in the lucky loser round, followed by knocking out the American team of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, set them on the right track.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes made it to the gold-medal match, which they lost to Brazil’s Ana Patricia and Duda.
The Olympic beach volleyball tournament is the hardest event players will face in their careers. It’s long, with tough competition in every match. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes knew they had to get it together quickly during those early struggles or they would be going home with major disappointment instead of a medal.
“It definitely didn’t start the way that we envisioned or that we planned or prepared for,” Humana-Paredes said. “And so very early on, we had to have very frank conversations with ourselves, internally as well as with our team and with each other, to kind of kick ourselves in the butt and be like, ‘What are we going to try and get out of this experience? Like, what are we here for?’”
Their silver was the first medal a Canadian team won in beach volleyball. Canada is much more known for its prowess in winter sports, but they hope their performance will help beach volleyball continue to grow in their home and native land.
“It was such a moment for us and for Canadian volleyball and just volleyball in general,” Humana-Paredes said. “I think it got a lot of eyes over the Olympics, as it usually does. It’s one of the most popular sports at the Olympics, but especially this one, having such an iconic venue in front of the Eiffel Tower, I think definitely drew a lot of eyes. I hope it helps create some momentum for the sport to grow and to keep developing.”
The Olympics fell in the middle of a busy beach volleyball season, with the Canadian team playing in the Volleyball World Pro Beach tour before the Olympics and now the AVP. Their hope for Chicago and beyond is to keep pushing forward — and winning — like they did in Paris.
“We just want to continue this momentum and continue to play to the level that we’ve been playing,” Wilkerson said. “We are so excited to just touch the ball again. We’re excited to compete. We’re excited to compete at a high level. A lot of these Olympic teams are going to be there, and I think the fans are going to enjoy seeing that competition.”
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes aren’t the only Paris Olympians who will compete in Chicago. Every team that represented the U.S. will be there.
That includes Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, who finished fifth in Paris and have won the last two AVP Chicago Opens. They will be joined by the team of Kloth and Nuss, who finished ninth in Paris.
The men’s teams of Andy Benesh/Miles Partain and Miles Evans/Chase Budinger — a former NBA player — will play in Chicago as well. Both teams finished in the top 10 in Paris and are expected to contend for the finals in Chicago.
Teams will compete for a chance to make it to the AVP League, which will feed into the AVP Championship. The winning women’s and men’s pairs will represent Chicago in the AVP League.
Right after playing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, the competitors in Chicago will play in front of the iconic Chicago skyline with Lake Michigan in the background.
The event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the outer courts on Oak Street Beach is free, while tickets start at $22 for matches on the Stadium Court.
The men’s and women’s finals will air at 2 p.m. Sunday on CW-26.
Maggie Hendricks is a freelancer for the Chicago Tribune.
