MYSLOWICE- Manitoba Bisons outside hitter Taylor Pischke of Winnipeg and playing partner Melissa Humana-Paredes of Toronto won the bronze medal on Sunday, June 15 at the 2014 FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships in Myslowice, Poland.
The Canadian duo also won bronze during 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball U 23 Championships last June. In the 2014 championship event, there were two Canadian teams competing among the 36 teams for the title.
In the bronze medal match, Pischke and Humana-Paredes defeated Finland's Taru Lahti with a 2-1 win (21-18, 14-21, 15-10) after losing in the semi-final match earlier in the day to eventual champions from Australia Nicole Laird and Mariafe Artacho by a 2-1 (21-18, 20-22, 9-15) result.
Pischke commented to fivb.org: "To be honest it was pretty tough to come out and bounce back and play that third place match, cause obviously we did not want to be there. It was a tough loss against Australia. We had a lot of chances to win that one."
The championship started on June 11 and ran until June 15 with Pischke and Humana-Paredes competing in Pool D and finishing the pool with a 4-1 record. In round 1, they won 2-0 over Netherland team then 2-0 over Germany team in round 2 plus followed with a 2-1 victory over Spain team on June 14 to advance to the semi-finals.
"It was important we came back and won the bronze", said Pischke. "Not the colour we wanted, but a medal is a medal and we are happy."
Taylor Pischke and Melissa Humana-Paredes results at the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball U23 World Championships in Myslowice, Poland
Qualification Round (June 10, 2014): W 2-0 (21-11, 21-18) vs. USA
Pool D: W 2-0 (21-10, 21-8) over Croatia; W 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) over Austria; W 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) over Italy; L 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 13-15) vs. Spain; W 2-0 (21-17, 21-5) over Russia
Round 1: W 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) over Netherlands
Round 2: W 2-0 (21-9, 21-12) over Germany
Round 3: W 2-1 (21-19, 14-21, 15-13) over Spain
Semi-final: L 2-1 (21-18, 20-22, 9-15) versus Australia
Bronze Medal Match: W 2-1 (21-18, 14-21, 15-10) over Finland
