game on january 31st
(PhilOil EcoOil Arena)
4 pm – Galleries Tower vs Signal
6:30 pm – Akari vs Choco Mucho
The arrival of Eya Laure, the biggest off-season acquisition of the year, and the eagerly anticipated return of Sissi Rondina will be the highlights when Choco Mucho tackles Akari in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference on January 31 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
Ms Laure has chosen the Flying Titans as her new home after leaving the discontinued Chery Tiggo crossover last year and her entry and the homecoming of Ms Rondina, who took a break between the Southeast Asian Games for the volley gold medal she eventually won in Thailand last December, should establish the Rebisco franchise as an early title favorite.
This will also be a reunion of sorts for MSES. Laure and Rodina, who played UAAP college ball together at the University of Santo Tomas years ago.
Game time is scheduled for 6:30 pm
Akari had major catches like Siza Carandang, Judith Abile and Janine Soreno, but no one could beat the giant catch like Ms. Laure.
The official start of the season will be at 4 pm with the duel of a new-look Galleries Tower pair against the Signal side, which has practically retained its super core in Vanny Gandler, Erica Santos, Rosalyn Doria, Don Catindig, Jael Cayuna and Ishi Lalongsip.
In contrast, the High Risers have completely rebuilt after adding 14 players and installing a new coach in Clarence Esteban.
Limited to 10 teams but with better quality of play and balance, the league will implement a single-round elimination format, with the team finishing with a sweep getting an outright semi-final berth.
However, if there is no sweep, the top four teams will face off in the qualifying round knockout matches, with the winners advancing to the next round.
Meanwhile, losing teams are not immediately eliminated. Instead, they moved to the newly introduced play-in stepladder stage – another first for the league – where teams ranked fifth to 10th were seeded.th Get a second chance to survive.
Rankings throughout the eliminations and beyond will be determined using the FIVB team classification system, which takes account of wins, set percentage and points ratio, while strengthening fairness and consistency.
The semi-finals will be contested in a single round-robin format, again using the FIVB system, with the top two teams ranked to fight each other in a best-of-three final at the Araneta Coliseum, with the event organized by Sports Vision targeting the final on 28 April. — joey villar