Dresden's women's volleyball team secures a decisive victory against Suhl

The Dresdner SC women’s volleyball team won the Eastern Derby against VfB Suhl LOTTO Thüringen by a surprisingly decisive score of 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-17). This marked a small measure of revenge for coach Alexander Waibl’s team, four weeks after their decisive loss in the Super Cup against the German double champions.

After the bitter defeat in Erfurt, Dresden showed a different side in front of 2,781 spectators, playing with more courage, conviction, and determination, improving especially on their serve and, as the match progressed, on their reception as well. Crucially, the home team showed strong nerves to clinch the hard-fought and close first set. After fending off a set point by the Suhl team, opposite hitter Maia Dvoracek—who was the top scorer with 19 points and was ultimately named MVP—capitalized on the second chance with an ace for her team.

Powerful serves

That provided momentum and confidence. In the second set, the Dresden team pulled ahead decisively thanks to a series of serves by setter Sarah Straube. The DSC did not let this advantage slip away. In the third set as well, Dresden dictated the pace of the game with powerful serves (17 direct points) and played with greater confidence and tenacity in all other areas than in recent matches.

The German champions from Suhl, weakened by personnel shortages, could no longer withstand the pressure from the hosts and were clearly defeated after 79 minutes. For the VfB women, it was their third consecutive loss.