Marleen van Iersel
Encyclopedia
Marleen van Iersel is a Dutch
professional beach volleyball
player born in Breda
.
She played indoor volleyball
for a few years before she switched onto the beach in 2001. The first two years she played just for fun. In 2003 she was selected by the Sourcy Volleybalschool. Marleen impressed her coaches with her ambition, training hours and determination. Although her team mate in 2003 was Roos van der Hoeven with whom she achieved some decent results she qualified and participated for the Pattaya
u18 World Championships with Jennifer Waninge. In Thailand
they reached the 5th position. Then in 2004 she teamed up with Arjanne Stevens, but qualified for the same u18 World Championships, this time in Termoli
with Margo Wiltens, reaching the semi finals and finishing in 4th position. Later that year she and Stevens qualified for the u21 World Championships in Porto Santo where they became 4th as well. When teaming up with Marloes Wesselink
in 2005 their skills improved fast, which resulted in a successful season.
They started off in the Eredivisie of Beach volleyball in the Netherlands, which is the highest league in the country. In Callantsoog
they became second and in Assen
they reached the 3rd position. Their first World Tour event was in Gstaad
finishing 57th among the world's best teams. In the Eredivisie they kept on playing in the top 3 finishing 3rd in Nesselande
and Amstelveen
, while they finished 2nd in Gouda
and Groningen. They took part at the Dutch national championships under 20 in Almere
which they won. After that they also won the Eredivisie tournament in Scheveningen, while in Monster
they became 3rd. Next step was the European Championships under 20 in Israel
where they were among the favourites. They reached the final, which they won and took their first international gold medal. A few weeks later at the World Championships under 19 in Saint-Quay-Portrieux
they reached the 5th position. As Wesselink was already above 18 years now, Van Iersel participated at the European u18 Championships in Ukraine
together with Angelique Vergeer finishing 4th. Later in 2005 they took part in the Dutch national senior championships, finishing 5th. Their final 2005 event was the World Championships under 21 held in Brazil
where they finished 9th. Van Iersel/Wesselink received the award for Beach volleyball talents 2005.
In 2006 both girls decided to concentrate on beach volleyball fulltime, working on improving their skills more and more and also getting more experience. The first tournament of the season was an Eredivisie event in Kijkduin
where they finished 2nd. On international level they started participating in higher quality tournaments like the European Championship Tour. In Hamburg
they reached the 13th position. In the same weekend they travalled to Assen
in their home country and in addition they won the TopTeams Cup Assen. In another 6 Eredivisie tournaments they reached one 1st place, four 2nd positions and a 3rd position, before heading to Marseille
to play in a FIVB World Tour event. They reached the 41st position on the highest possible level. At the European Championship Tour event in Valencia they finished in 21st position. August 2006 turned out to be a good month for Van Iersel/Wesselink. First they travelled to South Korea
to participate in an exhibition tournament where they finished 5th. A 4th position was reached a few days later in Austria
during the European Championships under 23, while they had the ages of 18 and 19. The following weekend they took part in the Dutch national Championships in Scheveningen finishing 4th again, behind the three top Dutch teams for many years. With these results in mind they travelled to Poland
to play the World Championships under 21 in Mysłowice. Again they faced opponents quite older than they were themselves, but this didn't seem to bother them much and they won the bronze medal. In the semi finals they lost from the eventual champions, while they had beaten the same team in the group stage earlier in the tournament. In addition they stayed in Poland to play the Warsaw
FIVB World Tour event, finishing 33rd. At the u19 World Championships in Bermuda
Van Iersel played alongside Daniëlle Remmers, again because Wesselink wasn't allowed to start as she already was above 19 at the start of the tournament. The tournament was shortened from 7–10 September 2006 to 7–9 September because of the Tropical Storm Florence which was likely to hit the island on September 10 or 11. Van Iersel and Remmers were on fire and cruised into the semi finals winning all their matches 2-0 in sets. Also the semi final match was won by two sets to love, which secured them a place in the final against Alice Rohkamper and Becchara Palmer from Australia
. The Dutch girls managed to win the first set 21-17, but in a tight second set they conceded their first lost set in the tournament by 19-21. The third and final set wasn't successful either and was lost by 10-15. Rohkamper and Palmer became World Champions, while Van Iersel and Remmers had to deal with the silver medal. The day after all volleyball players were scheduled to leave the island before the hurricane arrived, but as the storm approached faster than expected the airport was closed and they had to wait until the storm, which did hurt the island, but didn't injure any people was over.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
professional beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
player born in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
.
She played indoor volleyball
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.The complete rules are extensive...
for a few years before she switched onto the beach in 2001. The first two years she played just for fun. In 2003 she was selected by the Sourcy Volleybalschool. Marleen impressed her coaches with her ambition, training hours and determination. Although her team mate in 2003 was Roos van der Hoeven with whom she achieved some decent results she qualified and participated for the Pattaya
Pattaya
Pattaya is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi....
u18 World Championships with Jennifer Waninge. In Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
they reached the 5th position. Then in 2004 she teamed up with Arjanne Stevens, but qualified for the same u18 World Championships, this time in Termoli
Termoli
Termoli is a town and comune on the Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, and it is a local resort town known for its beaches and old fortifications...
with Margo Wiltens, reaching the semi finals and finishing in 4th position. Later that year she and Stevens qualified for the u21 World Championships in Porto Santo where they became 4th as well. When teaming up with Marloes Wesselink
Marloes Wesselink
Marloes Wesselink is a Dutch professional beach volleyball player born in Doetinchem.She played indoor volleyball for a few years, playing at Orion Doetinchem, Sourcy Volleybalschool and Longa'59 Lichtenvoorde before she switched onto the beach...
in 2005 their skills improved fast, which resulted in a successful season.
They started off in the Eredivisie of Beach volleyball in the Netherlands, which is the highest league in the country. In Callantsoog
Callantsoog
Callantsoog is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zijpe, and lies about 13 km south of Den Helder...
they became second and in Assen
Assen
Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...
they reached the 3rd position. Their first World Tour event was in Gstaad
Gstaad
Gstaad is a village in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Berne in southwestern Switzerland. Part of the municipality of Saanen, Gstaad is known as one of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world....
finishing 57th among the world's best teams. In the Eredivisie they kept on playing in the top 3 finishing 3rd in Nesselande
Nesselande
Nesselande is a new extension on the east side of the city of Rotterdam, in South Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Prins Alexander. Formerly Zevenhuizen-Moerkapelle, consists of three development area's: Tuinstad, Badplaats and Waterwijk...
and Amstelveen
Amstelveen
' is a suburban municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the following villages and/or districts: Amstelveen, Bovenkerk, Westwijk, Bankras-Kostverloren, Groenelaan, Waardhuizen,...
, while they finished 2nd in Gouda
Gouda
Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....
and Groningen. They took part at the Dutch national championships under 20 in Almere
Almere
Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
which they won. After that they also won the Eredivisie tournament in Scheveningen, while in Monster
Monster, Netherlands
Monster is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 10 km south-west of The Hague.The village of "Monster" has a population of around 11,580....
they became 3rd. Next step was the European Championships under 20 in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
where they were among the favourites. They reached the final, which they won and took their first international gold medal. A few weeks later at the World Championships under 19 in Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Saint-Quay-Portrieux is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Saint-Quay-Portrieux are called quinocéens.-External links:* *...
they reached the 5th position. As Wesselink was already above 18 years now, Van Iersel participated at the European u18 Championships in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
together with Angelique Vergeer finishing 4th. Later in 2005 they took part in the Dutch national senior championships, finishing 5th. Their final 2005 event was the World Championships under 21 held in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
where they finished 9th. Van Iersel/Wesselink received the award for Beach volleyball talents 2005.
In 2006 both girls decided to concentrate on beach volleyball fulltime, working on improving their skills more and more and also getting more experience. The first tournament of the season was an Eredivisie event in Kijkduin
Kijkduin
Kijkduin is a seaside resort on the North Sea coast of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is one of the two seaside resorts of the city of The Hague, the other one being Scheveningen....
where they finished 2nd. On international level they started participating in higher quality tournaments like the European Championship Tour. In Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
they reached the 13th position. In the same weekend they travalled to Assen
Assen
Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...
in their home country and in addition they won the TopTeams Cup Assen. In another 6 Eredivisie tournaments they reached one 1st place, four 2nd positions and a 3rd position, before heading to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
to play in a FIVB World Tour event. They reached the 41st position on the highest possible level. At the European Championship Tour event in Valencia they finished in 21st position. August 2006 turned out to be a good month for Van Iersel/Wesselink. First they travelled to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
to participate in an exhibition tournament where they finished 5th. A 4th position was reached a few days later in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
during the European Championships under 23, while they had the ages of 18 and 19. The following weekend they took part in the Dutch national Championships in Scheveningen finishing 4th again, behind the three top Dutch teams for many years. With these results in mind they travelled to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to play the World Championships under 21 in Mysłowice. Again they faced opponents quite older than they were themselves, but this didn't seem to bother them much and they won the bronze medal. In the semi finals they lost from the eventual champions, while they had beaten the same team in the group stage earlier in the tournament. In addition they stayed in Poland to play the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
FIVB World Tour event, finishing 33rd. At the u19 World Championships in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
Van Iersel played alongside Daniëlle Remmers, again because Wesselink wasn't allowed to start as she already was above 19 at the start of the tournament. The tournament was shortened from 7–10 September 2006 to 7–9 September because of the Tropical Storm Florence which was likely to hit the island on September 10 or 11. Van Iersel and Remmers were on fire and cruised into the semi finals winning all their matches 2-0 in sets. Also the semi final match was won by two sets to love, which secured them a place in the final against Alice Rohkamper and Becchara Palmer from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The Dutch girls managed to win the first set 21-17, but in a tight second set they conceded their first lost set in the tournament by 19-21. The third and final set wasn't successful either and was lost by 10-15. Rohkamper and Palmer became World Champions, while Van Iersel and Remmers had to deal with the silver medal. The day after all volleyball players were scheduled to leave the island before the hurricane arrived, but as the storm approached faster than expected the airport was closed and they had to wait until the storm, which did hurt the island, but didn't injure any people was over.