Tanja Hüberli’s search for a new partner to compete on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour didn’t last long as just a few weeks after her longtime partner Nina Brunner announced the decision to take a break in her playing career, the Paris Olympic bronze medalist has already picked a new teammate.

The 32-year-old Swiss has selected one of the most promising young players in her country, 19-year-old Leona Kernen, to share the courts during the next years of her career.

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Hüberli spent the last nine years with Brunner and the team was one of the most successful in her country’s history, winning the historic Olympic medal at the Paris Games, two European titles and over 20 medals at the international level.

The blocker expects to be able to compete among the top teams in the world with her new partner in some time, but also wants to make the most of the change of scenario to find new ways to develop her game.

“Leona is a young athlete with a lot of potential, motivation and ambition,” Hüberli said. “I know that a lot of things will be new and different now and that’s exactly what I’m looking forward to. This new team is also an opportunity for me to continue to improve and grow. I’m also excited to pass the experience I accumulated over the last 12 years and can’t wait to see what we can do together.”

Kernen first appeared on the international scene in 2020 and has found some success in age group tournaments, taking silver at last year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship, gold at the 2024 U20 European Championship and silver at the same event in 2023.

She was most recently playing with Annique Niederhauser, with who she took silver at the Baden Futures in the 2023 Beach Pro Tour season.

“I’m extremely motivated to push myself to the limit, to learn something new every day and to help us develop our identity as a team,” she remarked. “I’m very grateful to Tanja for giving me this opportunity as a young player.”

Debut expected in 2025

Hüberli and Kernen will start practicing together in November and expect to appear together for the first time at the start of the 2025 season of the Beach Pro Tour.

This was the second Swiss team formed after the Paris Olympics, joining the one of the Vergé-Dépré sisters Anouk and Zoé, who announced they will share the courts back in September. A Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, Joana Heidrich is yet to announce the next steps of her career.

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