Swiss hopefuls Bossart & Kernen enjoying their last U21 World Champs

Switzerland’s Muriel Bossart & Leona Kernen are in the middle of their 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship campaign in Puebla. They are really enjoying the atmosphere of their last junior world champs together and, of course, hoping to go as far as possible in the tournament. Meanwhile, Kernen is also looking forward to her first senior World Championship next month in Adelaide, along with star partner Tanja Huberli.

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The Swiss duo have already won some and lost some at the event in Mexico, but are now qualified for the eighthfinals and still on track in their journey to the tournament’s most important matches.

“We have just won the round of 24, we will play the round of 16 against Canada, we will give it our all again hoping to win as many games as possible and we will see how far we can go,” 20-year-old defender Leona Kernen told FIVB.com. “It’s a great tournament here in Mexico! The venues are crazy and the organization is top! We were really looking forward to playing here together at our last U21 World Championships.

“It’s just awesome to be here, having fun on the court, enjoying everything – the vibe, the emotions and the energy together,” confirmed 19-year-old Muriel Bossart, who has taken up the blocker role in this tandem.

Bossart & Kernen swept their first two matches in Pool G, but when it came to the crucial match for the first place in the pool, they faced a strong Brazilian team - Carolina Sallaberry & Julhia Perandre – and a mighty three-set battle unfolded. Each of the sets was decided by the narrowest of margins and the tie-breaker was pushed deep into overtime before the South Americans could squeeze out a 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 19-17) victory, leaving the Swiss as pool runners-up and one more game to play in the knockouts.

“I think it was a very tough game. The Brazilians played very well,” commented Bossart. “We had some ups and downs, but also some very, very good things and I think we’ll just take everything forward with us. It fired us up even more for the next rounds.”

Bouncing back from that loss on Friday was not a problem for Bossart & Kernen, and on Saturday morning, they cruised through their sixteenthfinal match against Costa Rica’s Aliza Aguilar & Laura Molina to achieve a swift 2-0 (21-12, 21-7) win. Later on Saturday, the Swiss pair will face the strong Canadian pairing of Ruby Sorra & Ofure Odigie in a fight for a spot in the quarterfinals.

“There are a lot of good teams here. 15 teams with good players can win this tournament,” Kernen stated. “It’s so fun to play against the best of the world for under 21!”

“We’ll give it our all and see how far we can go. I think we just put everything in and try to stay consistent with our things. As Leona said, there are many, many good teams, but I think we are also kind of a good team…,” Bossart added with a humble smile.

Although the two young and talented hopefuls play with different partners in senior beach volleyball competitions, they really enjoy the age-category competitions where they join forces to represent their country together. They have played at a number of world and continental youth championships as a team and have already built up a good chemistry as partners. The duo triumphed as European champions twice, at the U18 continental event in 2021 and at the U20 tournament last year, when they cruised through the competition without dropping a single set and earned their qualification to the 2025 U21 World Championship in Puebla.

“It was nice that we could win that tournament,” said Kernen. “The year before, we won silver after losing to Poland in the final. It’s always a bit difficult, because after the silver we’d had, we wanted to win this tournament, so there was a lot of pressure that we made for ourselves, but I think we handled this situation really well, mentally too, and we gave everything. I am really happy we could win this tournament together and took the spot to come here.”

Bossart commented on the pros and cons of playing with different partners in different competitions.

“One minus is that we don’t have a real blocker here. I also normally play defense. But we have played so many youth tournaments together and we know each other, so our energies are well in connection. There surely are the adaptations that need to be made before going on the court together. A big plus is that we are not as known as we would be if we played together all the time.”

After last year’s Olympic Games in Paris, Swiss bronze medalist Nina Brunner decided to take a break from competitive beach volleyball and her partner Tanja Huberli picked Leona Kernen to replace Brunner in the team. On the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, Huberli & Kernen won a Spiez Futures gold and a Yucatan Challenge silver, and also reached the semifinals of the iconic Gstaad Elite tournament.

“Of course, it’s nice to play with Tanja. It’s a great opportunity to learn from her, how she is doing things on the court and off the court. It’s a big learning session,” said Kernen. “It was a nice year to learn and I am really grateful for that. But of course, there is also pressure, because they were so good, so it is hard to step in for Nina. But I tried to see it in a positive way and just work on my things, train hard and get better every day...”

“And she did awesome!” Bossart jumped in.

What is ahead for Leona Kernen is the biggest tournament of her career so far, the Adelaide 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship next month.

“Unfortunately, Tanja had an injury. She was out for three months, so we will see now how it goes, but I am sure she will come back stronger and I am looking forward to my first senior World Championships,” said Kernen. “I will give it all again and try to win as many games as possible against the best of the world. It’s a big thing to compete there. And also Australia! I think it’s crazy far away for me and I am really looking forward to playing there.”

2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship: schedule and results

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