Family obligations didn’t give father-of-two Benedikt Frank much time over the Easter holidays to look back on the season. It was only on Saturday evening that the VC Wiesbaden volleyball players were eliminated from the play-off quarter-finals of the Bundesliga. The three-part series against six-time champions Dresdner SC, says their coach, reflected what characterized the Hessians’ season: that the team moved closer to the big players and was able to hold its own against every team. However, a success against top clubs like in the first duel with the Saxons cost them so much energy that the game usually didn’t go well afterwards. But also that the formation quickly fought its way back from such lows.
It had happened again and again in one way or another over the past six months. Not only at national level, but also in the “highlight games” in the European Challenge Cup, such as against Galatasaray Istanbul or Paok Thessaloniki. “So much has happened since October,” says Frank. “That’s incredible.”
Desires aroused
The coach sees the balance of the total of 37 matches as “positive”: semi-finals on the international stage, two quarter-finals in the championship and the cup. Repeating these successes next time must be the minimum goal. The return to the European Cup has not yet been determined. As sixth in the main round in the league, last year’s fourth-place team probably missed out on a continental appearance for the time being; the slightly worse performance can also be seen as a result of the unusual triple burden on the regular players, for whom there was a lack of equivalent alternatives. The VCW could still fight for a starting place in the Challenge Cup at a tournament before the start of the season.
Last but not least, the strong performances against the Greeks, the Turkish and the Italians from Novara, against whom the VCW won one set in both duels in the round of the best four, aroused desire. In order to keep the desired players in the squad, salaries must increase by an average of five percent. Not an easy task for a club that, for economic reasons, had to wait until the first matchday to see whether it would even receive a license for the first floor, and that will still have to fulfill requirements in the coming years in order to be able to compete at the top.
VC Wiesbaden presented itself strongly in the European Cup. : Image: Detlef Gottwald
Although, according to Frank, there is almost twice as much to be earned elsewhere in his own country, around half of the selection could remain in Wiesbaden. No contract extension has been announced yet and no player has a valid contract for the coming season. Nina Herelova, who has a knee injury and has an option, would like to return to the net, but after her upcoming operation, the captain and the club will have to wait and see how the healing process goes.
According to Frank, seven to eight signatures from new and proven people have already been signed. Reinforcements should feel just as “fire within themselves” as the players who were last available. The VCW is doing well by looking for female athletes who have not been able to get a chance elsewhere and are therefore eager to perform. Diagonal attacker Izabella Rapacz, for example, who was the second best attacker in the league in the main round, previously sat on the bench in Poland for four years, as Frank says.
Katja Sturm Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Achim Dreis, Wiesbaden Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 Achim Dreis, Wiesbaden Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
A mixture of such hungry players, reliable constants like the longest-serving Tanja Großer and talent, that should remain the coach’s recipe for success. The Berlin native has already extended his contract by three years. He still has a lot planned for the VCW. “I definitely want to win a medal.” The Wiesbaden women achieved a shared third place in the Challenge Cup. However, plaques were not distributed for this.
