Stakes high as Canadians shuffle, Phil-Casey together again

CHICAGO — Two weeks after a thrilling tournament at Manhattan Beach and a week after a stop in Virginia Beach, the AVP season of so many first-time winners moves to the shores of Lake Michigan for the Gold Series Chicago.

The stakes are high Friday as teams vie for spots in the Phoenix Championships later this month.

And, thanks to Canadians Sarah Pavan, Brandie Wilkerson, and Melissa Humana-Paredes, the women’s bracket is full of surprises.

The MBO winners, Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolinske, are the top seed. Olympian Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon are No. 2. 

But the third seed is the new pair of Canadian Olympians Brandie Wilkerson, who has American citizenship, and Melissa Humana-Parades.

Wilkerson, whose partner during the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, Heather Bansley, retired, had been playing the AVP season with young American Zana Muno. Humana-Paredes was the partner of Canadian Olympian Sarah Pavan, the former Nebraska great, but they recently announced their volleyball divorce after a wildly successful partnership in which they set a number of Canadian milestones on the beach.

Pavan, the 6-foot-5 left-hander, is seeded fifth with Latvian Olympian Tina Graudina, the former USC great who also has American citizenship. She won AVP Fort Lauderdale with another former USC standout, Hailey Harward.

And not to be missed in there is the No. 4 seed of Olympian Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint, who lost in the MBO final. 

At No. 6 are Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, who won the season-opener in Austin in May — when they beat Pavan and Humana-Paredes in the final — and the seventh seeded are the Maestrinis, Larissa and Lili, who have three 2022 titles to their credit and lost in the AVP Virginia Beach final last weekend to Deahna Kraft and Allie Wheeler, who are not in the bracket. 

There is, of course, just as intriguing a men’s field. Former Canadian Chaim Schalk, now an American, and Theo Brunner are the No. 1 seed. They won in Hermosa Beach and lost in both the Atlanta and Manhattan Beach finals.

The second seed is the pair of Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, coming off their MBO victory. They also won in Fort Lauderdale.

Paul Lotman and Miles Partain, who won in Atlanta, are seeded third, and the Taylors, Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander are No. 4. They lost in the New Orleans final to the old-guys pair of Phil Dalhausser and Casey Patterson.