Nicole Branagh answers Kerri’s call

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The search for a partner is over for Kerri. Photocredit: Stefan Moertl.

Three-time Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings has finally found her perfect partner for the Poreč Major – Nicole Branagh!

Kerri split from long-time teammate April Ross last month following a dispute with the AVP, but told us in an interview she was searching high and low for a new partner to attack the sand with in 2017.

Hidden among the provisional entry list for the summer’s first five-star event on the beautiful banks of Croatia’s Adriatic coastline, sits Kerri’s name alongside Nicole’s.

This isn’t the first time Californian Nicole, 38, has partnered Kerri. Far from it. The last time came back in August 2012 when the pair finished ninth in the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam.

Nicole (right) pictured here with a former partner of hers and Kerri's, Misty May-Treanor. Photocredit: FIVB

However, success has never been far away. The duo have claimed top spot on the podium twice in FIVB history. The last time that happened was in November 2010 when they took gold at the Phuket Open, while in October 2008, Kerri and Nicole triumphed in the Dubai Open.

Nicole’s credentials on the sand are there for all to see. She was named FIVB’s Most Improved Player in 2008, a year she also competed in the Olympic Games where she and then partner Elaine Youngs finished fifth in Beijing.

Overall, Branagh’s international career has seen her win three gold, four silver and seven bronze medals – and two of those golds have come together with Kerri. Now that’s a kind of stat which really makes us look forward to the start of what promises to be an stunning summer season!

Now stayed tunes between now and the start of the Poreč Major as we’ll have more on Kerri’s decision to join forces with Nicole very soon – along with more details regarding which teams will make the main draw for the Poreč Major.

Remember to read our interview with Kerri here, and if you want to see which other teams have put their names forward for the Poreč Major, click here.