Bansley, Wilkerson have medal hopes dashed at FIVB World Tour Finals

Canada's hopes for a medal at the Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals in Hamburg, Germany, were spiked in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic defeated Canada's Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson (21-15, 17-21, 15-7) in just under an hour.

With the loss, Bansley and Wilkerson will finish fifth.

"Having played each other for like the sixth time this year, we know each other pretty well so we knew it was going to be a fight," Wilkerson says. "I think Heather and I stuck together and I'm proud of that. It just sucks to lose. We have a lot more to be proud of than upset about, so we can definitely look to that."

Bansley and Wilkerson played in Saturday's quarter-finals after placing second in their pool. A first-place finish would have earned the Canadians a bye to the semifinals. 

"There were a lot of tough matches. All of the teams are [ranked] top 10 in the world," Bansley says. "All five of our matches were tough, so it was great to compete under pressure against the best. We know what we can improve on looking back on the week … It is a really great way to finish the season."

The other Canadian team of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan had a rocky start in Hamburg. They rallied to win their final two pool matches on Friday but failed to advance.

"It's a bittersweet ending if it is an ending to our season," said Humana-Paredes.

The Tour Finals features only the top teams in the world, with the winner from each gender receiving $150,000 US in prize money.