En route to the tournament to crown the inaugural Shimmer Champion, Serena was involved in a car crash and thus could not participate. An interview with her opened "Volume 12", where she revealed her desire to challenge the eventual Shimmer Champion having missed out on her tournament opportunity, but still could not maintain a winning streak, falling victim to Rain and later her tag team partner Jetta. After being eliminated from a 20-woman Battle Royal to determine the Shimmer Championship contender during "Volume 19", Serena pinpointed champion Sara Del Rey for her next match, but came up short. On "Volume 21", Serena maintained she demanded another title match, blaming her loss on an injury. Sara Del Rey refused, calling her "bottom of the barrel" but an impromptu brawl turned into a sanctioned match, in which Serena once again put up a strong effort but lost. The event closed with Serena talking backstage about how the defeat would not stop her in trying to become champion at which point MsChif, the Shimmer Champion, commended her drive and ambition and offered her a match on the condition of beating Del Rey.