Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 13, 2016 - The steady Beach Volleyball game of Heather Bansley’s defense and Sarah Pavan’s blocking paid dividends here Saturday mid-day at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as the FIVB World Tour’s best block/defense team won an all-Canadian women’s “Sweet 16” match.
In a match where Bansley and Pavan never trail, the fifth-seeded team in the competition posted their fourth-straight win on Copacabana by eliminating compatriots Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas from the “Summer” Games with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) win in 36 minutes.
It was Bansley and Pavan’s seventh-straight international win over Broder and Valjas, who last lost to their Canadian rivals in three-sets March 11 on Copacabana in another “Sweet 16” confrontation at the Rio Grand Slam. With the North American country having two teams in the women’s Olympic Beach Volleyball competition for the first-time, Bansley and Pavan’s quarter-final advancement duplicates an Athens 2004 placement by Guylaine Dumont and Annie Martin.
Bansley had 23 digs as compared to the 14 combined total for Broder and Valjas, the only Canadian women’s team to win a FIVB World Tour gold medal in the first qualifying event in 2015 for the Rio Olympic Games at Fuzhou, China. Pavan finish the match with six blocks.
With three pool and one elimination win to their credit, Bansley leads the women’s competition in digs with 68. Pavan is now tied with Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States for the block leadership at 18.
Bansley and Pavan now await for their Sunday quarter-final opponent as the Canadians will play the winner of the late Saturday afternoon match between Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland and Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany.
