USA’s Torrey Van Winden and Lindsey Sparks added another milestone to their 2026 run on Sunday, winning the women’s title at the Geneva Futures in Switzerland to claim their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour gold. The Americans finished the week unbeaten, while Switzerland’s Annique Niederhauser and Menia Bentele earned silver on home sand and another U.S. team, Tambre Nobles and Clara Stowell, took bronze.
The result matters for Van Winden and Sparks not only because it delivered their first Beach Pro Tour gold, but also because it extended a 2026 trend in which they have medaled at every international event they have entered so far this season.
How Van Winden and Sparks secured the Geneva Futures title
Van Winden and Sparks arrived in Geneva with momentum already established. They opened their international season with a NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour gold in San Jose, Costa Rica. On the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, they debuted as a duo at the Sveti Vlas Futures in Bulgaria earlier in June and earned silver, then matched that with another silver at last week’s Spiez Futures in Switzerland.
In Geneva, the second-seeded Americans put together a perfect five-match run to the top of the podium. Their semifinal was an all-USA matchup against ninth-seeded Nobles and Stowell, and it went the distance. Van Winden and Sparks edged the first set 22-20, dropped the second 18-21, and then closed out the decider 15-11 for a 2-1 victory.
The final delivered another three-set battle, this time against the bracket leaders and home favorites Niederhauser and Bentele. The Swiss pair took the opener 21-17, putting the Americans under pressure. Van Winden and Sparks responded by taking the second set 21-19, forcing a third, and then completed the comeback with a 15-12 win to seal a 2-1 triumph and the gold medal in Geneva.
For Niederhauser and Bentele, the silver represented the team’s second Beach Pro Tour medal. Their route back to the final included a semifinal win over eighth-seeded Eva Liisa Kuivonen and Liisa-Lotta Jurgenson, which the Swiss pair won in straight sets, 2-0 (24-22, 21-10). The victory also served as payback for what was described as the only loss Niederhauser and Bentele suffered on the way to the final.
Niederhauser and Bentele’s first Beach Pro Tour medal was also a silver, earned at last year’s Messina Futures, and Geneva added another podium finish in front of home fans.
In the bronze medal match, Nobles and Stowell completed the podium by coming from behind to beat Kuivonen and Jurgenson 2-1 (13-21, 22-20, 15-12). The comeback win was described as revenge for a pool-stage defeat to the Estonian duo, and it delivered Nobles and Stowell their first Beach Pro Tour hardware.
Field size and what’s next on the Beach Pro Tour Futures circuit
The women’s tournament in Geneva featured 25 duos representing 11 different countries, underlining the depth of the Futures level and the value of a title run that required five consecutive victories.
Next on the Beach Pro Tour Futures calendar are stops in Hangzhou, China; Balikesir, Turkiye; Bridlington, United Kingdom; and Geneva, Switzerland for the men’s tournament, scheduled for June 25 to 28.
