For Argentina’s Morena Marisa Abdala, the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship was one for the history books. Not only did the 20-year-old Abdala make her World Championship debut in Adelaide, Australia but also lined up alongside her new partner Brenda Ailen Churin for the first time at a major international competition.
“It was difficult since we had never played together before and we are both defenders, so we had to face the challenge of playing in unfamiliar roles. Anyway, we understood the situation and gave our best,” Abdala told FIVB.com.
Argentina’s Morena Abdala (left) and Brenda Ailen Churin during the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship held in Adelaide, Australia.
It was a baptism of fire for the youthful Argentine duo coming up against eighth seeds Svenja Müller & Cinja Tillmann and 17th seeds Linda Bock & Louisa Lippmann from Germany as well as Puerto Rico’s Maria Claudia Gonzalez Valentin & Allanis Navas Sanchez.
“For me it was something unexpected, I feel that before arriving in Adelaide I didn’t really understand the level I was going to play in. I enjoyed and learned a lot, it was a great motivation,” said Abdala.
Abdala reckons that the pros of being thrown in the Adelaide deep end certainly outweigh the cons.
“Something I understood is that the vast majority of teams have been playing together for years so forming a duo takes time,” noted Abdala. “From Germany specifically I learned that no matter how high I jump in block, they will always be higher because they are very tall,” she added half-jokingly.
An Instagram influencer, Abdala noticed a sharp increase in her social media following after her historic World Championship cameo in Adelaide.
“It’s really something I’ve been working on for a long time. I upload a lot of videos daily and whenever I play a tournament I have a lot of views, I didn’t expect less in Adelaide. I really like being an influencer and being able to broadcast and show my sport,” she revealed.
Argentina’s Morena Abdala at the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship held in Adelaide, Australia.
Moving forward, Abdala is keen on building on the gains from Adelaide in the 2026 season as part of her long-term goal to make her first appearance at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles come 2028.
“This year, I’ll start playing with a new partner Agostina Ghigliazza with whom we have a nice long-term project and similar goals. We don’t know specifically which competitions we are going to play in but we want to play as much as possible and have plans to travel to Europe. All our focus this year is to qualify for the continental qualifier to LA 2028,” said Abdala.
