as of september 2016, sarah 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. pavan and humana-paredes continued doing well internationally in 2018, winning the gold medal over australia in straight sets at the 2018 commonwealth games. as it was the first time beach volleyball was competed at the commonwealth games, 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.