Germany - VBL 1. Bundesliga 2023/24

    Quote from Marisaala

    On the official VBL site. But they also still list Dornheim in Aachen...

    But also Dresden hasn't made anything official.

    So to explain: The team lists on the VBL site are managed by the teams themselves, via SAMS. As far as I know, the team manager is responsible for maintaining this information. So in the case of Dresden this is Sandra Zimmermann.


    In my opinion, Helena Dornheim cannot be compared with Juliette Fidon-Lebleu because there is a big difference. Helena Dornheim is still listed on the team list, but her contract in Aachen has already been marked as ended, which means she is no longer marked as usable. This is different from the current situation for Juliette Fidon-Lebleu, as she is still shown with a valid contract and therefore is marked as useable.

    Erfurt became champion 🏆 of second league pro four rounds before end of the season and has either to return to the first league or pay money to the league VBL. Second and third team are now Köln/Cologne and Dingolfing, it's not clear yet, if any of those three wants really a first league license, as usual it's a financially demanding task for them. Others could apply too by the way...

    Quote from StefanS

    Erfurt became champion 🏆 of second league pro four rounds before end of the season and has either to return to the first league or pay money to the league VBL. Second and third team are now Köln/Cologne and Dingolfing, it's not clear yet, if any of those three wants really a first league license, as usual it's a financially demanding task for them. Others could apply too by the way...

    Small improvement: Nawaro Straubing is currently in 3rd place and not TV Dingolfing. TV Dingolfing is in 4th place, but of course they have one game less from Nawaro Straubing and could therefore overtake the team.


    But you have to say either way that things are extremely tight in the league both at the top and bottom, with the positive exception of Schwarz-Weiß Erfurt and the negative exception of SSC Friesen. For example, second place and seventh place are separated by just seven points. And it's even tighter since today at the bottom, with only five points between eighth place and twelfth place, the first relegation spot. So you have to say that the six to four match days (teams have played different numbers of games) can still be really exciting.

    Quote from Gymnicus

    Small improvement: Nawaro Straubing is currently in 3rd place and not TV Dingolfing. TV Dingolfing is in 4th place, but of course they have one game less from Nawaro Straubing and could therefore overtake the team.


    But you have to say either way that things are extremely tight in the league both at the top and bottom, with the positive exception of Schwarz-Weiß Erfurt and the negative exception of SSC Freisen. For example, second place and seventh place are separated by just seven points. And it's even tighter since today at the bottom, with only five points between eighth place and twelfth place, the first relegation spot. So you have to say that the six to four match days (teams have played different numbers of games) can still be really exciting.

    I am always using the point per match ratio due to the largely unbalanced match numbers and in this measure Dingolfing is better than Straubing.


    We have now two to three groups of teams: champion Erfurt is followed by six teams, than there is an huge gap and six teams (including VCO Dresden, not participating in relegation) are trailing, none of them can be sure to stay in the league for now. Freisen seems to be a lost case, but Flacht has a small, but real chance to overtake Borken, and as mentioned even the teams before can't be sure for now.

    Quote from StefanS

    I am always using the point per match ratio due to the largely unbalanced match numbers and in this measure Dingolfing is better than Straubing.

    Of course this makes sense to do. I didn't consider that. Nevertheless, I believe that Nawaro Straubing will end the season before TV Dingolfing. But I think it can still be exciting overall, as the DSHS SnowTrex Cologne could also fall behind. Of the top teams, Cologne has one of the most difficult remaining programs. Next week they play against Dingolfing and then at some point there is Erfurt and then there is also against Leverkusen. These are all games where Cologne can still leave points behind.


    Quote from StefanS

    We have now two to three groups of teams: champion Erfurt is followed by six teams, than there is an huge gap and six teams (including VCO Dresden, not participating in relegation) are trailing, none of them can be sure to stay in the league for now. Freisen seems to be a lost case, but Flacht has a small, but real chance to overtake Borken, and as mentioned even the teams before can't be sure for now.

    For me, the Skurios Volleys Borken are one of the negative surprises of the season. Of course, the team has changed from last season, but a core of seven players remained from last season. Other teams don't have that. But there are said to have been quarrels within the club before the season or at the end of the last season and as a result of this there was a separation from the long-time assistant coach and promotion supporter Markus Friedrich, who is now leading the TuB Bocholt into the top group of the 2nd Bundesliga North in the men's area. Just a side note.

    Quote from Gymnicus

    For me, the Skurios Volleys Borken are one of the negative surprises of the season. Of course, the team has changed from last season, but a core of seven players remained from last season. Other teams don't have that. But there are said to have been quarrels within the club before the season or at the end of the last season and as a result of this there was a separation from the long-time assistant coach and promotion supporter Markus Friedrich, who is now leading the TuB Bocholt into the top group of the 2nd Bundesliga North in the men's area. Just a side note.

    Please don't forget that many key players have left the team (Brinkmann, Baran, Müller-Scheffsky). Managing such a radical change requires a lot of long-term work and a lucky hand in recruiting new staff.

    And unlike in previous years, Borken was not able to strengthen the team with foreigners at will. In every team in the 2nd Bundesliga Pro, at least half of the players entered on the match report sheet must belong to the DVV (German Volleyball Association), i.e. they must have learnt to play volleyball in Germany. They must also include two junior players (age group U23 or younger). During a match, it is also necessary that at least two players from the DVV association of origin are on the court at all times.

    Quote from phoenix1

    Please don't forget that many key players have left the team (Brinkmann, Baran, Müller-Scheffsky). Managing such a radical change requires a lot of long-term work and a lucky hand in recruiting new staff.

    Thank you for pointing out that Anika Brinkmann and Żaneta Baran are currently unable to play for the Skurios Volleys Borken. As I found out after a short research, this is probably due to long-term injuries. The loss of these two experienced players is of course a big blow to the young Borken team. If you also exclude the two players, Skurios Volleys Borken now have a younger team than the ESA Grimma Volleys, which as far as I know was the youngest team (after the VC Olympia Dresden of course).


    I didn't mention the team from Grimma entirely without reason, because I think you can see exactly the point you mentioned about “lucky hand in recruiting new staff” in the two teams. Like the team from Borken and other teams, the ESA Grimma Volleys had to let go of several experienced players because they couldn't juggle long trips across Germany with their work or ended their careers for other reasons. And the players, with the exception Sophie Dreblow and Laura Slabon, were replaced with players who meet the U23 requirement.


    As you say, this can go well or it can't. The team from Grimma, which has always talked about the goal of staying in the league, succeeded. On the other hand, things are currently not working for the team from Borken, which has set fifth to eighth place as its goal. Let's see if I can watch the match between these two teams live in Grimma this weekend.

    Quote from Gymnicus

    The loss of these two experienced players is of course a big blow to the young Borken team.

    Although volleyball is a team sport, it has to be said that Anika Brinkmann and Zaneta Baran made the decisive difference in many games. With their powerful serve and attacking shots, these two have characterised Borken's attacking game in recent years.

    In the local newspaper “inSüdthüringen” there is an article today reporting that the Bundesliga teams are not that happy with the intermediate round, which is completely understandable from my point of view. That's why the game mode should be put to the test. Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall so I can't read the whole article.

    Quote from Gymnicus

    In the local newspaper “inSüdthüringen” there is an article today reporting that the Bundesliga teams are not that happy with the intermediate round, which is completely understandable from my point of view. That's why the game mode should be put to the test. Unfortunately the article is behind a paywall so I can't read the whole article.

    That was only introduced to keep the number of home matches the same, to guarantee the ticket selling for these. As the league gets back to a reasonable size, this will vanish.

    Quote from StefanS

    That was only introduced to keep the number of home matches the same, to guarantee the ticket selling for these. As the league gets back to a reasonable size, this will vanish.

    Exactly. Everything depends on the number of teams. If not only Schwarz-Weiß Erfurt gets promoted, but also another team, then the topic of “intermediate round” could be put aside. If only the team from Erfurt gets promoted, then I would be interested to know what the alternative to the intermediate round is. In addition to the aspect of the same number of home games, the contract with Sport1 certainly also plays a role in the topic of “intermediate round”. Because Sport1 has also paid for a certain number of games and they are not necessarily interested in the number of games falling rapidly.

    Vilsbiburg - Münster 1:3 (18:25 25:20 21:25 21:25)

    https://live.volleyball-bundesliga.de/2023-24/Women/2311.pdf

    MVP: Monika Salkute / Zoe Fleck


    Last matches of intermediate round tomorrow. Suhl-Schwerin will decide about 1st place, Schwerin needs to win 2 sets. Dresden-Potsdam (TV match at 17:00 CET, stream) will decide about 3rd place, Potsdam can take it if they win with 3 pts. In the lower half Wiesbaden needs to beat Aachen to take 6th place.