Olympics Women's Beach Volleyball August 3
Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball
M. Humana-Paredes / B. Wilkerson (CAN) Over T. Graudina / A. Samoilova (LAT) -165
The Canadian duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson enter Saturday’s match with a win and a loss in pool play. They opened their Olympic games with a win in straight sets (21-16, 21-12), over Paraguay. Their next effort resulted in a loss in three sets (18-21, 21-13, 11-15), to Switzerland.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson have racked up 52 attack points so far in their two pool games while surrendering 49 attack points. They have also put pressure on their opponents, forcing 19 points on errors over their two matches.
Saturday, they take on the Latvian team of Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova. They are also 1-1 in pool play so far. They too have a win against Paraguay (21-19, 21-15), as well as a loss to Switzerland (15-21, 14-21). In their match against a much stronger Swiss team, they were out attacked 23-17 and were slightly edged out 8-9 in opponent errors.
The outright edge here goes to the Canadians despite both teams achieving similar results against the same opponents. Humana-Paredes were able to take Switzerland to a third set and had a legitimate shot at winning the match. This price is juiced heavily, which takes some of the appeal away, but the team from Canada should walk away with their second win in their Pool D campaign.
M. Humana-Paredes / B. Wilkerson (CAN) -1.5 (+165)
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson started their Olympic quest by setting Paraguay down in two sets. Not to mention, they held their own against the top team in Pool D taking Switzerland to a third set. The confidence they gained from a close loss to the Swiss should carry them to a decisive Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball victory this weekend.
