The Swiss pair qualified for the 2017 FIVB World Championships via their international rank.  Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré will be each competing in their third FIVB World Championships with career best finishes of 17ths with the Nadine Zumkehr (Heidrich) and Isabelle Forrer (Vergé-Dépré).  A new team on the 2017 FIVB World Tour, Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré rebounded from 17ths in their first two events to place second, fifth and fourth in their next three events.  Heidrich, the international circuit’s most improved player in 2016, and Vergé-Dépré both started playing in FIVB events in 2009 and captured the under-21 world championships in Canada with Nina Betschart.  Heidrich’s U21 crown was in 2011 and Vergé-Dépré’s title was the next season when Halifax hosted- back-to-back youth worlds.  Heidrich and Zumkehr won FIVB World Tour gold medals in 2015 (China) and 2016 (Russia) and placed fifth at the Rio 2016 Olympics after losing a three-set quarter-final match to Brazilians Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca.  Vergé-Dépré and Forrer, who topped the podium at a 2016 FIVB event in China, placed ninth in the 2016 Copacabana Summer Games after being eliminated by eventual champions Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst.