Nina Brunner

Nina Brunner (née Betschart; born 14 October 1995) is a Swiss professional beach volleyball player who plays as a right side defender with her partner Tanja Hüberli.

Betschart / Hüberli team represented Switzerland at the 2020 Summer Olympics where they finished in ninth place and played a pivotal role at their country's triumph in the women's event of the inaugural CEV Beach Volleyball Nations Cup in 2022.

[10] They reached the final at the U18 European Championships in Vilnius but lost to home favorite top-seeded Dumbauskaitė / Povilaityte in three sets (17–21, 22–20, 13–15) and settled for silver medal.

[16] Betschart was again the U21 World Champion at Halifax, this time with Anouk Vergé-Dépré, after beating the Brazilian pair Drussyla Costa / Rebecca Silva in straight sets in the final.

[17][18] It was also a milestone in the career of Nina Betschart, she became the second woman after Brazil's Carolina Salgado to win gold in back-to-back years with different partners.

[17] Betschart / Eiholzer team made their first senior level tournament podium at Coop Beachtoor event in Locarno by finishing in second place.

[39][40] In 2015 season the duo began to appear in World Tour in more regular basis, their best result was the ninth-place finish in Prague Open.

[45][46] They put the disappointment behind and made their first podium at continental level after finishing in third place at CEV Satellite tournament in Timișoara, Romania.

They pulled off an upset by defeating the reigning World Champions Ágatha / Bárbara of Brazil in the second round (21–19, 17–21, 18–16), before losing to the other Brazilian pair Duda / Elize Maia in the quarter-finals.

[53][54] They reached their first World Tour podium at A1 Major Klagenfurt where they finished in third place after defeating Argentina's Ana Gallay / Georgina Klug in three sets (14–21, 21–14, 22–20).

Although they finished all tour events they competed in podium places; with her new partner, Betschart could not manage a tournament victory for the first time in four seasons.

[25][60] Betschart and Hüberli started the season in Swatch Major Series event in Fort Lauderdale in early February where they failed to qualify to the knock-out phase after losing all three group matches.

They returned to the World Tour at a 4-Star tournament in Rio de Janeiro with a ninth-place finish after losing to the eventual champions Ágatha / Duda of Brazil in the round of 16 (16–21, 21–18, 12–15).

They edged out the Czech pair Kolocová / Kvapilová in very closely contested bronze medal match despite being forced to take a medical time-out when 10–12 down in the third set (21–18, 19–21, 16–14).

[72][73] Two weeks later they entered to the European Championships in Jurmala as the 4th seeded team,[74] but suffered an unexpected defeat against Kolocová / Kvapilová in the round of 16 despite winning the first set and having a commanding 13–8 lead in the second (21–13, 18–21, 8–15).

[75] After the disappointment at European Championships, Betschart and Hüberli competed in Swatch World Tour Finals in Hamburg after receiving a wild card from FIVB,[76] as one of the highest ranked teams not qualified for the event.

Betschart at the 2015 European Games
Betschart about to serve at the 2016 Long Beach Grand Slam