Merel Mooren
Encyclopedia
Merel Mooren is a Dutch
professional beach volleyball
and indoor volleyball
player born in Haarlem
.
In indoor volleyball Mooren started her career in 1989 at Allides Haarlem where she was part of the youth teams. The Dutch youth team called her up in 1996 and she was part of the team until 2000, winning a silver medal at the European Youth Championships. From 1997 until 2002 she played for Martinus Amstelveen in the highest Dutch league. Then she decided to switch sports to beach volleyball.
She started her international beach volleyball career in 2002, teaming up with Mered de Vries
. The talented team did not last long and in the following year Mooren had a new partner called Sanne Keizer
. They quickly became one of the best teams in The Netherlands. They even became Dutch champions by breaking the run set by Rebekka Kadijk
who was teaming up with Marrit Leenstra at that time. In 2004 they finished second behind this team, but they won the FIVB Satellite tournament in Lausanne
. After the 2004 Summer Olympics
Kadijk/Leenstra decided to split up. Mooren was Kadijk's next partner, while Leenstra continued with Sanne Keizer. The combination Kadijk/Mooren was nearly unbeatable in their own country. In 2005 and 2006 they became Dutch national champions. In both 2005 (Moscow
) and 2006 (Scheveningen) they reached the final of the European Championships. In both occasions the final was lost and they won the silver medals twice. In 2007 they won their first European Tour Tournament, prevailing in the final of the German Masters in Hamburg
.
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....
and 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...
player born in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
.
In indoor volleyball Mooren started her career in 1989 at Allides Haarlem where she was part of the youth teams. The Dutch youth team called her up in 1996 and she was part of the team until 2000, winning a silver medal at the European Youth Championships. From 1997 until 2002 she played for Martinus Amstelveen in the highest Dutch league. Then she decided to switch sports to beach volleyball.
She started her international beach volleyball career in 2002, teaming up with Mered de Vries
Mered de Vries
Mered de Vries is a Dutch professional beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player born in the small village of Harich in Friesland....
. The talented team did not last long and in the following year Mooren had a new partner called Sanne Keizer
Sanne Keizer
Sanne Keizer is a Dutch professional beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player born in Doetinchem.In indoor volleyball Keizer started her career in 1996 at Orion Doetinchem. Other teams she played for were Longa Lichtenvoorde and Martinus Amstelveen...
. They quickly became one of the best teams in The Netherlands. They even became Dutch champions by breaking the run set by Rebekka Kadijk
Rebekka Kadijk
Rebekka de Kogel-Kadijk is a Dutch professional beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player born in Werkendam.In indoor volleyball Kadijk started her career in 1992 at Foranto Werkendam. Other teams she played for were Sliedrecht Sport, Cornix Schelle and AMVJ. She was also part of the Dutch...
who was teaming up with Marrit Leenstra at that time. In 2004 they finished second behind this team, but they won the FIVB Satellite tournament in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
. After the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
Kadijk/Leenstra decided to split up. Mooren was Kadijk's next partner, while Leenstra continued with Sanne Keizer. The combination Kadijk/Mooren was nearly unbeatable in their own country. In 2005 and 2006 they became Dutch national champions. In both 2005 (Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) and 2006 (Scheveningen) they reached the final of the European Championships. In both occasions the final was lost and they won the silver medals twice. In 2007 they won their first European Tour Tournament, prevailing in the final of the German Masters 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...
.