Sarah Lindsey Pavan (born August 16, 1986) is a Canadian former

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

and indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the

2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The 2010 FIVB Women's World Championship was the sixteenth edition of the competition. Like the previous tournament, the 2010 edition also was held from 29 October to 14 November 2010 in Japan, though the range of venues and locations was modifi ...

in Japan. With Melissa Humana-Paredes, she won the women's gold medal at the

2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships The 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships was held in Hamburg, Germany from 28 June to 7 July 2019.

College indoor volleyball career

Pavan played college volleyball at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she led her team to win the 2006 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament, in which she was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Her collegiate accolades are numerous, and include winning the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for volleyball (2007), the Honda-Broderick Cup (2006–07), the AVCA National Player of the Year (2006), and three times the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Player of the Year (2005–07). She also won several academic awards, including twice winning

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured K ...

Academic All-American of the Year (2007–08) and earning a degree in biochemistry with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Pro beach volleyball career

In beach volleyball, Pavan played as a right-side blocker. After contacting Heather Bansley to find out if she knew anyone looking for a partner, she paired up with Bansley in 2013 when she changed over to beach volleyball. After qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the pair competed in Pool E and won all 3 matches with a 2–0 set score. For the Round of 16 match, they were paired with the other Canadian team of Broder and Valjas, which they won in straight sets of (21–16, 21–11). They lost to Germany's

Laura Ludwig Laura Ludwig-Bowes (born 13 January 1986) is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. Sh ...

and

Kira Walkenhorst Kira Katharina Walkenhorst (born 18 November 1990) is a German retired beach volleyball player who played as a Beach volleyball#Player specializations, blocker. She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball ...

in straight sets of (14–21, 14–21) in the quarterfinals. From September 2016 to July 2022, Pavan partnered with Melissa Humana-Paredes. The pair achieved initial success on the international circuit during the 2017 FIVB season by winning gold medals at the Porec Major, silver medals at both the Rio de Janeiro and Olsztyn Opens, and bronze medals at the Gstaad Major.Beach Volleyball Database: Fédération Internationale de Volleyball World Tour 2017 Season Summary
/ref> Pavan and Humana-Paredes continued doing well internationally in 2018, winning the gold medal over Australia in straight sets at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

.Beach Volleyball Results - Women's Gold Medal Match - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
/ref> As it was the first time beach volleyball was competed at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, they became the first women to win a gold medal in the sport at the competition. After this initial success, the pair competed well on the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, winning gold medals at both the Xiamen Open and Gstaad Major, and finishing in fourth place at the Huntington Beach Open.Beach Volleyball Database: Fédération Internationale de Volleyball World Tour 2018 Season Summary
/ref> During the 2019 FIVB season, they won silver medals at the Las Vegas and Itapema Open competitions.Beach Volleyball Database: Women's FIVB US$150,000 Las Vegas Four Star October 16-21, 2018
/ref>Beach Volleyball Database: Women's FIVB US$150,000 Itapema Four Star May 14-19, 2019
/ref> In their first AVP competition of 2019, they finished second in the tournament to the American duo of

Alix Klineman Alexandra Rose "Alix" Klineman (born December 30, 1989) is an American beach volleyball player, 2020 Summer Olympics gold medalist, and former indoor volleyball player. In high school she was the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year. She w ...

and

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is a former American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerr ...

.Beach Volleyball Database: Women's AVP $100,000 Huntington Beach Open May 2-5, 2019
/ref> Two months later, Pavan and Humana-Paredes won gold medals at the

2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships The 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships was held in Hamburg, Germany from 28 June to 7 July 2019.

, defeating Klineman and Ross in straight sets for Canada's first medal ever at the event. As the FIVB tour continued in 2019, they subsequently won gold medals at the Edmonton Open and Vienna Major,Beach Volleyball Database: Women's FIVB US$75,000 Edmonton Three Star July 17-21, 2019
/ref>Beach Volleyball Database: Women's FIVB US$300,000 Vienna Major Five Star July 30-August 4, 2019
/ref> though were eliminated in the quarterfinals of both the Gstaad Major and Tokyo Open by Klineman and Ross.Beach Volleyball Database: Women's FIVB US$150,000 Tokyo Four Star July 24-28, 2019
/ref> In mid-August, the duo returned to the AVP tour, reaching the finals in the

Manhattan Beach Open The Manhattan Beach Open is a beach volleyball tournament held annually during the summer in Manhattan Beach, California. Held on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier, the Open is the only professional volleyball tournament in which amateu ...

and defeating Klineman and Ross in three sets. Pavan and Humana-Paredes were named to the Canadian Olympic team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, which the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

caused to be delayed until 2021. The two went undefeated during pool play, winning every set. Entering the knockout rounds as the top seed, they defeated Spaniards

Liliana Liliana is derived from the Latin word 'lilium' or 'lilion', both mean 'lily' in English. Due to this, the name means "pure" and "innocent". The name is generally found in North America, though it is more common in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ...

/ Baquerizo in the Round of 16. In the quarter final, a rematch of the Commonwealth Games final with Australians

Clancy Clancy is an Irish name coming from the Gaelic ''Mac Fhlannchaidh/Mac Fhlannchadha'', meaning "Son of the red/ruddy warrior" (Mac being for sons, ''Ní Fhlannchaidh/Ní Fhlannchadha'' would be for daughters), or as a hypocorism for Clarence. ...

/ Artacho del Solar, they lost two sets to one and were eliminated from the tournament. Pavan retired on October 21, 2024.

Personal life

Pavan has a younger sister,

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

, who also played indoor volleyball at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and for certain European clubs. She too competed for the Canadian women's national team. Pavan has a YouTube channel, in which she and her husband Adam reviews popular volleyball anime " Haikyu!".

References

External links