Next up is Saturday, October 24, against the newly promoted team and 1. Bundesliga returnees, the Rote Raben Vilsbiburg. Although the women from Bavaria have only one point to their credit so far, the match will certainly not be easy. Coach Sens will, however, surely deliver the right pep talk to his team. And perhaps the VCW women will then bring three points back to Wiesbaden.

That was a tough one! On the third match day, the VCW pros had to really dig deep in their own gym against Skurios Volleys Borken, winning 3-1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-20, 26-24) to secure their second consecutive home victory. It wasn’t a dominant performance like their previous 3-0 sweep against the Ladies in Black Aachen, but head coach Paul Sens’s team showed resilience and kept their composure when it mattered most. The VCW currently sits in fifth place with six points.

The VCW’s first home game of the new Bundesliga season came as early as the second matchday, against the Ladies in Black Aachen. In the end, the team led by new coach Paul Sens secured a clear 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-17, 25-22) and notched its first win of the season. With three points, the team led by libero Rene Sain is in sixth place.

The VCW suffered a narrow 1-3 loss (19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 23-25) at USC Münster to kick off the new season, even though all four sets were relatively close. In the end, however, the team led by new coach Paul Sens had to leave the court as losers, even though their performance was solid. Still, they can take confidence from this match heading into their next games, and perhaps things will look different against Aachen. 

Six well-known female athletes are once again playing for the VCW in the top division of the Bundesliga: libero Rene Sain (Croatia; with the VCW since 2022–23), setters Sanne Konijnenberg (Netherlands) and Hanna Weinmann, outside hitter Cayetana López Rey (Spain), and opposite hitter Jovana Dordević. Also returning is middle blocker Rachel Gomez (USA). She joined the VCW in 2022–23 and most recently played one season with the Columbus Fury in the US Major League Volleyball. She is now the VCW captain.

New to the team: opposite hitter Marharyta Geiko (Ukraine), outside hitters Julia Murmann (Canada) and Sara Pustahija (Serbia), and middle blocker Roos Wessels (Netherlands). With middle blocker Kathi Breitenbach and libero Emma Burda, two more athletes from the VCW’s youth team (2nd Volleyball Bundesliga South) have made the leap to the first-division team—a strategy that the VCW rigorously pursues.

Ladies in Black Aachen, SSC Palmberg Schwerin, Dresdner SC, USC Münster, Skurios Volleys Borken, Vilsbiburg, ETV Hamburger Volksbank Volleys, Allianz MTV Stuttgart, Binder Blaubären TSV Flacht, Schwarz-Weiß Erfurt, VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen, and the VCW.