York University Lions volleyball players Melissa Humana-Paredes and Dallas Keith have been selected to represent Canada at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball SWATCH Junior World Championships in Halifax in September.
Humana-Paredes, of Toronto, will compete alongside Taylor Pischke at the event. The two of them recently won the Ontario provincial championship with a three-set upset of the top seeds in the final.
Melissa Humana-Paredes
Humana-Paredes is the defending under-21 world silver medallist after finishing second at last year’s tournament along with partner Victoria Altomare, who is also a York University student. The two of them were honoured by the province in April when they received the Ontario Sport Award for team of the year.
In 2011-2012, in her second year with the Lions, Humana-Parades was an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all-star and Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) all-Canadian. She capped off the season by being named York’s female athlete of the year.
Keith, also of Toronto, will participate in the tournament along with Garrett May, who plays for the Western University Mustangs and whose father, John May, is a member of York’s Sport Hall of Fame. May won the under-21 world championship in 2010 and finished fifth last year with Dany Demyanenko.
Dallas Keith
Keith joined the Lions last season as a transfer student from Warner University in Florida. He was unable to play the past year due to CIS eligibility rules but practiced with the team and will make his debut for the Lions later this fall.
Incoming recruit Grant O’Gorman, who will be a rookie for the Lions this season, may also be in Halifax on a third Canadian team. He is currently on a reserve list and will find out later this month if he will compete.
Halifax will be the first city to host back-to-back FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH Junior World Championships in 2012, after successfully welcoming the annual event last year.
The six-day tournament will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2 and features a main draw of 32 teams for the first time as the competition for players under 21 continues to grow in both size and stature.