Marleen Maria van Iersel (born 7 January 1988) is a Dutch professional

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

player born in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

Career

Iersel began her career playing indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

before switching to the beach volleyball in 2001. In 2003, she was selected by the Sourcy Volleybalschool. With her playing partner Jennifer Waninge she qualified for the

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...

Under-18 World Championships in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

finishing in fifth place. In 2004 Iersel again qualified for the Under-18 World Championships in

Termoli Termoli (Neapolitan language, Molisano: ''Térmëlë'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly af ...

partnering with Margo Wiltens. This time they reached the semi finals finishing in fourth position. Later that year she qualified for the Under-21 World Championships in

Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The muni ...

finishing fourth. Iersel teamed up with Marloes Wesselink in 2005 playing in the Eredivisie of beach volleyball in the Netherlands (the highest league in the country). Their first World Tour event was in

Gstaad Gstaad ( ; ) is a town in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society and the internatio ...

finishing 57th. The pair won the Dutch Under-20 national championships in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

. Iersel entered the Under-20s European Championships in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

eventually winning the event and taking her first international gold medal. A few weeks later at the Under-19s World Championships under 19 in

Saint-Quay-Portrieux Saint-Quay-Portrieux (; Breton: ''San-Ke-Porz-Olued'') is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Quay-Portrieux are called ''quinocéens'' in French. See also *Communes o ...

she finished in 5th position. Her final 2005 event was the Under-21s World Championships in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

where she finished 9th. Along with Wesselink she received the award for Beach Volleyball Talents 2005. In 2006 Iersel travelled to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

to play in a FIVB World Tour event for the first time, finishing 41st. At the European Championship Tour event in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

she finished in 21st position. Later that year she played in the Under-21s World Championships in

Mysłowice Mysłowice ( szl, Myslowicy; german: Myslowitz) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city is 74,085. It is located in the south district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union in the Silesian Highlan ...

winning the bronze medal. She stayed in Poland to play the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

FIVB World Tour event, finishing 33rd. At the Under-20s World Championships in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

Van Iersel played alongside Daniëlle Remmers. The tournament was shortened from 7–10 September 2006 to 7–9 September because of the

Tropical Storm Florence The name Florence has been used for 15 tropical cyclones worldwide, 10 in the Atlantic Ocean and 5 in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic: *Hurricane Florence (1953) – destroyed hundreds of homes in Florida, no deaths. * Tropical Storm Fl ...

which was likely to hit the island on 10 or 11 September. Their semi final match was won by two sets to love, which secured them a place in the final against Alice Rohkamper and

Becchara Palmer Becchara Palmer (born 18 June 1988) is an Australian female beach volleyball player. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the beach volleyball women's tournament. Personal Palmer was born in Adelaide, and is from South Aus ...

from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

losing 2–1.

Professional career

Summer Olympics

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she teamed with

Sanne Keizer Sanne Keizer (born 6 February 1985) is a Dutch beach volleyball player who plays as a right-side defender with her partner Madelein Meppelink. Her career highlights include two gold, two silver and four bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour. ...

. They qualified from group D. Unfortunately, they were then drawn against

Misty May-Treanor Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor (; née May; born July 30, 1977) is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and , was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tour ...

and

Kerri Walsh Jennings Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 hav ...

, and lost 2–0 in the first knockout round. Marleen van Iersel participated in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio together with her teammate

Madelein Meppelink Madelein Meppelink (born 29 November 1989 in Rhenen) is a Dutch beach volleyball player. Professional career From 2007 to 2009 she played with Margo Wiltens. From 2009 to 2011 she played with Marloes Wesselink. From 2011 to 2013 she played wit ...

, with whom she had teamed since 2014. They made it to the round of 16, and lost to the Swiss team of Heidrich and Zumkehr in 3 sets (21–19, 13–21, 10–15)

Personal life

Iersel and her wife Myrthe Ramond got married in 2016. The couple have a son.

References

External links

Official site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iersel, Marleen Van 1988 births Living people Dutch women's beach volleyball players Sportspeople from Breda Beach volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players of the Netherlands Beach volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen LGBT sportspeople from the Netherlands LGBT volleyball players 20th-century Dutch women 21st-century Dutch women