The Premier Volleyball League launched its Invitational Conference at the Century Park Sheraton Hotel with seven teams all geared up for another spirited battle for volleyball supremacy not just among themselves but also against two foreign squads stirring up play in the semis.
Creamline is gunning for back-to-back championships after foiling Petro Gazz in the recent Open Conference but the Angels, along with the Chery Tiggo Crossovers, the Cignal HD Spikers, the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, the Army Black Mamba Troopers and the PLDT High Speed Hitters have other things in mind come the tournament proper which opens on July 9 at the Fil-Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
“We hope to sustain the momentum we gained in the Open Conference,” said Sports Vision president Ricky Palou during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum that was also graced by Cignal TV inc. vice president for channels and content Sienna Olaso.
“For the Invitationals, we are spicing up things with the adding of two foreign teams. We are looking forward to another memorable season with them that, hopefully, our fans will enjoy.”
A pair of explosive matches kicks off hostilities that will be aired live and on a delayed basis across multiple platforms, including TV and digital, with Cignal HD colliding with Army Black Mamba at 2:30 p.m. and Choco Mucho facing off with Chery Tiggo at 5:30 p.m.
The top four teams in the single round prelims will advance to the next stage with Japan’s Kobe Shinwa Women’s University and Chinese-Taipei’s Taipei King Whales joining the qualifiers in another round-robin competition.
“New Taipei is a strong team while Kobe Shinwa will be a force to be reckoned with,” said tournament director Tony Boy Liao.
The top two will dispute the crown in a winner-take-all finale while the third- and fourth-ranked squads clash for the bronze medal. The last day of the tournament is tentatively scheduled on Aug. 14.