Tina Graudina, Melissa Humana-Paredes: Beach Pro Tour Sportsmanship Award Winners

Honorable Mention

  • Carol Salgado, Brazil
  • Taryn Brasher, USA
  • Terese Cannon, USA
  • Anastasija Samoilova, Latvia

Sports fans don’t like ties, and for good reason. We don’t like them either.

And yet…

When it comes to the Sportsmanship Award, when two of the best humans in the sport of beach volleyball finish the voting with the exact same number of votes, it just felt right to allow Tina Graudina and Melissa Humana-Paredes to stand at the top of this proverbial podium together.

There are few women whose ubiquitous smiles light up the room like Humana-Paredes and Graudina. It isn’t just because of the Colgate-commercial-worthy whiteness — it’s how genuine both of them are, with everyone around them.

A personal story that speaks to what a wonderful individual Graudina is. I took a recruiting trip to Latvia this summer, watching a tournament in the coastal town of Ventspils before spending a day and a half in the main city of Riga. Graudina wanted to know EVERYTHING. When we chatted the next week in Hamburg, she was practically vibrating with excitement that I was able to see her home country. This isn’t an exception, either. She’s that way with everyone she meets, eager to chat, to see how you’re doing, to know about your life and experiences.

And while this interaction with Humana-Paredes came in 2023, and not 2025, it is also a testament to the kind of individual she is. We were both competing in AVP New Orleans, and my son was due on the Monday following the tournament. Every time we crossed paths that weekend, she checked in on Delaney, if there was any news, if I needed anything.

Just as this was no exception with Graudina, this is par for the course for Humana-Paredes: She cares about her peers, the competitors who are looking to knock her off the podium, on a deeply human level.

For that reason, among so many others, they are the 2025 Sportswomen of the Year.

2023 Sportsmanship Award: Melissa Humana-Paredes

2024 Sportsmanship Award: Laura Ludwig