Austria Cup Women 2025/26

The Austria Cup Women is the premier knockout volleyball competition for women in Austria, organized by the Austrian Volleyball Association (Österreichischer Volleyballverband, ÖVV). It was founded in the 1980/81 season, with the first edition held that same year. The competition sits as a secondary domestic trophy to the Austrian Volley League Women (Bundesliga), which is the top-tier league determining the national champion. While the league is an elite, closed competition typically featuring around 10 teams, the Cup is inclusive, allowing participation from the top division, the second division (2. Bundesliga), and regional lower leagues, often involving around 28 to 30 teams per season. The format is a straight single-elimination knockout tournament, consisting of a preliminary round, Round of 16, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, and a Final. Lower-division teams often start in the preliminary round, while top-tier teams may receive byes. There are no group stages. Promotion and relegation do not apply to the Cup itself, but the winner qualifies for the CEV Challenge Cup and the Austrian Super Cup (against the League Champion). Historically, the competition has been dominated by Vienna-based clubs. The most successful team is SG VB NÖ Sokol/Post (including its predecessors like Post SV Wien and variants such as SG SV Schwechat/Post), with a combined total of 26 titles. Post SV Wien alone won 15 titles between 1981 and 2001. ASKÖ Linz Steg is the third most successful with 7 titles. A major structural reform occurred in 2007, when the competition was restricted to Austrian players only, a rule that remained until 2019 when foreign players were allowed again. The competition has not had a single continuous naming sponsor, though winning teams often carried corporate names (e.g., Fujitsu-Post, Kelag). The 2023/24 season was won by TI-Volley. The most recent champion, for the 2024/25 season, is ASKÖ Linz-Steg Women, who defeated VB Niederösterreich Sokol Post Women 3-0 in the final. The men's equivalent, the Austria Cup Men, shares the same founding year and organizational body but is dominated by HotVolleys Vienna.