SCHWERINER SC
“Again we could show that we are in a good condition, we just played and kept our nerves under control” said Denise Hanke, national player and MVP of the season. And the mental strength was definitely one good reason for the success of SCHWERINER SC.
In the quarterfinals this side had been almost eliminated by VfB 91 SUHL having a few match balls to divert but team captain Julia Retzlaff and her friends pulled together and could turn the match around to make it to the semifinals against Rote Raben VILSBIBURG.
After winning the first semi at home in straight sets, the second leg was lost 1:3 and a golden set had to determine the finalist. It was SCHWERINER SC that seized it with the score of 15-7. And in the final match SCHWERIN had once again the better end: “Even though it was a very close affair, our opponents are the deserved champions” mentioned DRESDNER SC Stefanie Karg after the defeat of her team.
Being back to Schwerin the team celebrated with their fans and sponsors while the capital city of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern honored the local heroines with a motorcade through the city center. Many fans lined up along the roads when the team passed by. The mayor of Schwerin, Mrs. Angelika Gramkow, invited the players to the town hall and Erwin Sellering, the Minister-President of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern who was also in attendance in Dresden for the final act, welcomed the ladies and the coaching staff in his office.
After the official part of the celebrations had come to a close, the club invited the fans to the local arena to bid farewell to the players. For some of them the end of the season is the beginning of their holidays but eight champions are already with their national teams preparing for the upcoming international challenges, including the last stages of the Olympic qualification process.
In March the team of head coach Teun Buijs had already won the cup final scoring a 3:1 win over Rote Raben VILSBIBURG and by defending the title in the Bundesliga the club from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern celebrated a perfect and happy end of an already memorable season.
This year was the first season for head coach Teun Buijs in Schwerin and also his first season coaching a female team, while the club did also re-join the elitist CEV Volleyball Champions League for the first time in ten years. In the league round SCHWERINER SC competed with Eczasibasi VitrA ISTANBUL (TUR), RC CANNES (FRA) and MC-Carnaghi VILLA CORTESE (ITA) and did very well against three of Europe’s top teams.
