Five #EuroBeachVolley First-Timers to Follow

There will be no shortage of experience in the CEV EuroBeachVolley 2022, part of the European Championships Munich, with the lineup of 64 teams featuring as many as 36 Olympians and 33 medal winners in previous editions of the event set to compete from August 16-21.

In a tournament of this magnitude, however, there’s always room for newcomers to shine and steal the show, making an excellent impression in their first appearance at the #EuroBeachVolley.

That was certainly the case last year in Vienna, when we saw four Dutch players who were making their debuts in the tournament end the week with the silver medals around their necks in Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot, Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon.

This year’s entry list also has some strong candidates to make of their #EuroBeachVolley debut a successful one and here are five of them:

Svenja Müller (Germany)

The 1.93m-tall, 21-year-old German will make her debut in the #EuroBeachVolley as the top-seeded team alongside partner Cinja Tillmann and the two are certainly among the favorites to win medals in Munich. Playing at home, Müller has everything in her favor to continue to make a huge impact at the net against the best teams in the world as she’s been doing at the international level as Tillmann and her recently won the bronze medal at the World Championship and won an Elite 16 event in Ostrava, the Czech Republic.

Jonathan Hellvig/David Ahman (Sweden)

The 20-year-old Swedish wonderkids have nothing else to prove at the Under Age level, having won U18, U20 and U22 European titles, a U21 world title and the Youth Olympics all in the last four years. They’ve been securing some good results at the senior level too, having won a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in May, and could have made their #EuroBeachVolley debut last year, but came up a few entry points short. They were recently forced to withdraw from what would have been their first World Championship due to an injury and have certainly channeled their energy towards Munich.

Tania Moreno (Spain)

Another player with good success at the Under Age level, the 20-year-old Spanish is the reigning U22 European champion, a title she won with partner Daniela Alvarez just a month ago. Just one week later, she won her first Beach Pro Tour medal, taking bronze in a Futures tournament in Türkiye. Moreno has won three medals in other Under Age events since 2019 and is ready for her first #EuroBeachVolley appearance. Alvarez and her both play for the same team at the collegiate level in the United States and have better chemistry than many of their opponents.

Leon Luini (The Netherlands)

The international career of the 21-year-old Luini is still short, as he only played his first events in 2020, but has taken off immediately. He won his first medal in his very first event, taking bronze with Matt Immers in a World Tour event in France in 2020. He has significantly raised his level since then and has found great success with Ruben Penninga in 2022 as the two have won bronze in a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Brazil in April and just finished their first World Championship campaign with two wins in four matches.

Louisa Lippmann (Germany)

International experience is certainly not an issue for Louisa Lippman, but the German star will compete in her first continental tournament on the sand, so she makes the list. With more than 150 matches and eight years representing her country’s national team, she made the move to the beach at a good moment. Lippmann is just 27 and will have the time to learn and improve, starting with the #EuroBeachVolleyball. In Munich, the 1.91m-tall German will be paired with Olympic and two-time continental champion Kira Walkenhorst and, considering her short period on the sand, she will have nothing to lose.