Swiss fans that make it to Gstaad on Saturday to follow the fourth day of action of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in the city will be able to watch a duel between the country’s top female teams in the tournament’s Round of 12.

Both new teams in the 2025 season, Anouk Vergé-Dépré/Zoé Vergé-Dépré and Tanja Hüberli/Leona Kernen will battle for a spot in the quarterfinals in one of the first six women’s matches of the day in the Swiss Alps.

• Watch Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite live on VBTV

The matchup was set after Anouk and Zoé overcame the Round of 18 of the tournament on Friday. The sisters, who have been among Switzerland’s representatives in the last three Olympics, with Anouk winning a bronze medal in Tokyo, in 2021, secured a massive victory in their first elimination match in the Swiss Alps, taking down Brazilian Olympians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti in the tie-breaker (21-17, 17-21, 15-13) to continue alive in the tournament.

Anouk, 33, and Zoé, 27, are currently going through the best moment of their still young partnership as they got to Gstaad after winning medals in three consecutive Beach Pro Tour events – they took silver in the Spiez Futures, bronze in the Ostrava Elite and gold in the Alanya Challenge.

Hüberli, a 32-year-old, two-time Olympian, who got bronze in Paris last year, and Kernen, a 19-year-old, U18 and U20 European champion, are also enjoying a promising start to their new partnership, having taken silver in the season-opening Yucatán Challenge and gold in the Spiez Futures, where they topped the Vergé-Dépré sisters in the only duels between the new Swiss teams so far. As the top team in Pool B, Hüberli and Kernen advanced directly to the Round of 12 and didn’t have to play on Friday.

World Ranking leaders bounce back

The recovery of FIVB World Ranking leaders Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes in the tournament was another highlight of Friday’s schedule in Gstaad. After dropping their first pool play match in the Swiss Alps on Thursday, the Brazilians got a pair of wins on Friday to get to the Round of 12, where they will face Americans Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw.

The two secured a pool play victory over Spanish Olympians Tania Moreno and Daniela Álvarez after Álvarez picked up an injury during the tie-breaker and then swept (21-15, 21-13) the Austrian Klinger sisters Ronja and Dorina in the Round of 18.

Czechs Marketa Svozilova and Marie-Sára Štochlová were another team to win two matches on Friday. They defeated Swiss wildcards Annique Niederhauser and Menia Bentele 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) in pool play and Dutch Raisa Schoon and Mila Konink also in two sets (21-18, 21-16) in the Round of 18 on their way to meet Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft in the Round of 12.

The same happened to Americans Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, who downed Finland’s Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti in an incredible three-set (35-33, 17-21, 15-9) battle in pool play and then needed another tie-breaker (16-21, 21-17, 15-13) to take down German qualifiers Louisa Lippmann and Linda Bock in the Round of 18. Compatriots Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher will be their opponents in the Round of 12.

Germany will also have a domestic battle in the Round of 12 after Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne dominated Dutch Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis in two sets (21-12, 21-14) in the Round of 18 and earned the right to face Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The sixth and last Round of 12 duel in Gstaad will feature Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who prevailed over Brazilians Vitória Rodrigues and Hegeile ‘Hegê’ Almeida in three sets (21-16, 20-22, 15-7) in the Round of 18, and Canadian Olympic medalists Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes.

Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite – Match Schedule & Results

On Saturday, both the Round of 12 and the quarterfinal matches will be held in Gstaad. The semifinals and medal matches are scheduled for Sunday.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
VBTV
Beach Volleyball World Facebook
Beach Volleyball World X
Beach Volleyball World Instagram
Beach Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter