DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Melissa Humana-Paredes warms up with her volleyball partner Brandie Wilkerson on Delray Beach.
The two know each other well — they won a silver medal together at the Paris Olympics last summer. Now, they're teaming up again for a tournament this weekend at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
WATCH: Olympic medal winners to play in Delray Beach
Humana-Paredes says she's often described as a scrappy player.
"When it gets down to the mix, I will be a little bit of a killer. They call me the smiling assassin because I will take you down and smile while I do it," she said.
The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), the premier professional beach volleyball league in the world, kicks off its 2025 season this week in Delray Beach. This style of volleyball is quite different from the typical college or Olympic format, where matches are played to 21 points and follow a best-of-three format.
"This game's to 15, only one side switch, so things are happening really fast. There's not a lot of time to make huge comebacks or huge momentum swings. You get to see high-level action from the first point," Wilkerson said.
Both players admit the pro life is tough but say it's absolutely worth it.
"I get to be a student of life and love everything I'm doing every day, there's nothing more I could ask for," Wilkerson said.
Humana-Paredes agrees with her partner.
"It's everything I thought it would be and more, because it pushed me in ways I never thought I could overcome," she said.
