Seeded 16th in the competition, Gerson will be playing in his first-ever FIVB Senior World Championships.  Gabathuler has appeared in four previous worlds with three different partners as his best placement was a 17th with Jan Schnider in 2011 at Rome.  Gabathuler and Gerson played their first full-season together on the FIVB World Tour in 2014 as the Swiss pair posted bronze medal finishes at Anapa (Russia) and Stavanger.  The team also placed ninth in the 2014 European Championships in Italy were they were eliminated by Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel at Cagliari.  Gerson teamed with Gabriel Kissling to capture the silver medal at the 2012 FIVB under-21 World Championships at Halifax, Canada.  Gabathuler has played in over 100 international matches to rank among Switzerland’s all-time leaders on the list.