The Canadian played against her former partner Taylor Pischke on her first match in Fort Lauderdale

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Melissa Humana-Paredes player her former partner Taylor Pischke for the first in Fort Lauderdale

Melissa Humana-Paredes couldn’t wait to finally make her debut in the Fort Lauderdale Major and Sarah Pavan and her enjoyed a smooth start in the first Beach Major Series tournament of the year this Wednesday as the top seeds prevailed in all-Canadian meeting with Taylor Pischke and Jamie Broder.

Pavan and Humana-Paredes, the winners of last year’s Porec Major, dominated her compatriots, amassing a 21-13, 21-14 win in one the windy side courts in Florida.

“The first match was pretty good,” Melissa said. “We got the win and it’s always great to start the tournament like that, especially on these conditions, when you have to manage it and I thought we did a good job on that.”

It was an extremely familiar matchup for Humana-Paredes as it was the first time she always played against Pischke, with who she player from 2012 to 2016 and won a pair of bronze medals on Age-Group World Championships.

“It’s always difficult playing an ex-partner, but you got to do it,” she added. “When you are out there, you just forget about who is on the other side. It’s tough to come all the way here and play your fellow countrymen, but those games are always exciting and I think we took care of it pretty well.”

Beach Volleyball Major Series on Twitter

@SarahPavan & @melissa_hp10 had a short statement to their victory and their fans 💯🇨🇦🏐 #hellosunny #GivesYouWings #wawa #beachvolleyball https://t.co/bFLXkHuCAr

In the afternoon, it will be Pavan’s turn to face a former partner as Melissa and her will face Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson in the match that will define the winner of Pool B.  

“We’ve played them several times and nothing changed, so we’ve just got to keep focusing on our side,” Pavan commented. “We need to do the right things and be aggressive.”

Pischke and Broder, who started on the qualification tournament, will play a win-or-go-home match with Poland’s Kinga Kolonsinska and Katarzyna Kociolek.

You can watch all the matches of the Fort Lauderdale Major live on BeachStream. Click here to register.