IT'S all systems go for the sixth edition of the PVL Reinforced Conference and the league's 22nd overall tournament since its inception in 2017.
Foreign guest players are set to bolster the teams in the two-month sprint for the right to be crowned champions of import-laden conference.
Creamline will enter the conference as defending champion, having won with American ace Erica Staunton in the 2024 edition. It shares the most number of Reinforced Conference titles in the league at two (2018 and 2022) with Petro Gazz (2019 and 2023).
But all eyes will be on three-peat-seeking PLDT as it rides the momentum of back-to-back championships in the PVL on Tour and Invitational earlier this year.
From returning Alas Pilipinas players led by top draft pick Bella Belen to a new cast of imports, here's what fans need to know ahead ofeight weeks of exhilarating volleyball action.
Tournament format
Like last year's Reinforced Conference, the preliminary round will be split into two phases.
The 12 teams are divided into two pools of six each:
- POOL A: Capital1, Choco Mucho, Cignal, Farm Fresh, NXLED, PLDT
- POOL B: Akari, Chery Tiggo, Creamline, Galeries Tower, Petro Gazz, ZUS Coffee
The first group stage will feature a single-round robin for teams in the same pool. Then comes a crossover round which will feature Pool B's top three and Pool A's bottom three in Pool C together with Pool A's top three and Pool B's bottom three in Pool D.
- POOL C: A4, A5, A6, B1, B2, B3
- POOL D: A1, A2, A3, B4, B5, B6
Teams that already played each other in the first group stage will no longer meet in the succeeding crossover group stage.
The top eight teams with the best combined records across both pools will enter the playoffs, eliminating the bottom four teams in the process.
All playoff rounds from the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals and battle for third will be single-game knockout matches.
Five provincial stops
Select matches in both the preliminaries and playoffs will take place outside Metro Manila.
In total, there will be five provincial stops for this year's Reinforced Conference compared to none at all last year.
Opening day action will be at the all-new Ynares Center Montalban, with the remainder of the first week slated at the City of Dasmariñas Arena.
The same Cavite venue will host all four matches of the quarterfinals on Nov. 18 and 20.
Familiar venues from the preseason and in years past will also be revisited in import-laden play.
The rest of the out-of-town stops include the Capital Arena in Ilagan City (Oct. 18), City of Passi Arena in Iloilo (Oct. 25) and the Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur (Nov. 8).
Bar the Philsports Arena, which is being readied for the Phliippine hosting of the 2025 FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup in November, the PVL will make use of the Playtime FilOil Centre in San Juan, the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Big Dome will be home to the semifinals and finals on Nov. 25 and 27.
Reinforcements incoming
An eclectic mix of veterans, neophytes, debutants and returnees will take center stage in this year's Reinforced Conference.
Half of the 12 imports are North Americans, hailing from either Cuba or the United States, with the rest being Europeans from nations such as Spain, Belgium, Greece, Ukraine, Russia and Montenegro.
Three of the forthcoming reinforcements have already played in the Philippines in years past, but only two were former PVL imports.
Petro Gazz' Lindsey Vander Weide is the first and only PVL import to win a title, best import and finals MVP in a single campaign two years ago, while Galeries Tower import Jelena Cvijovic previously suited up for Chery Tiggo in 2022.
Choco Mucho import Marlee Smith was last in Manila six months ago for Thai team Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC in the 2025 AVC Women's Champions League. Smith & Co. defeated PLDT in the group stage in five sets before sweeping Creamline in the quarterfinals.
The rest of the 12 imports, including their nationality, height, age, position and last club played for prior to the PVL, are all listed below:
- AKARI: Annie Mitchem - USA | 6’4 | 31 years old | Outside hitter | Jakarta Livin' Mandiri (Indonesia)
- CAPITAL1: Oleksandra Bytsenko - Ukraine | 6’4 | 29 years old | Outside hitter | Aranmare Yamagata (Japan)
- CHERY TIGGO EV: Yunieska Batista - Cuba | 6’1 | 32 years old | Outside hitter | Yesilyurt Spor Kulūbū (Turkiye)
- CHOCO MUCHO: Anyse Marlee Smith - USA | 6’1 | 26 years old | Opposite hitter | Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC (Thailand)
- CIGNAL: Eva Chantava - Greece | 6’2 | 34 years old | Outside hitter | Karnali Yashvis (Nepal)
- CREAMLINE: Courtney Schwan - USA | 6’1 | 29 years old | Outside hitter | Orlando Valkyries (USA)
- FARM FRESH: Helene Rousseaux - Belgium | 6’2 | 34 years old | Outside hitter | Papara Göztepe (Turkiye)
- GALERIES TOWER: Jelena Cvijovic - Montenegro | 6’2 | 33 years old | Outside hitter | EA Larissa (Greece)
- NXLED: Paola Martinez Vela - Spain | 6’2 | 27 years old | Opposite hitter | Dinamo Bucureşti (Romania)
- PETRO GAZZ: Lindsey Vander Weide - USA | 6’3 | 27 years old | Outside hitter | Orlando Valkyries (USA)
- PLDT: Anastasiia Bavykina - Russia | 6’2 | 33 years old | Outside hitter | Columbus Fury (USA)
- ZUS COFFEE: Anna DeBeer - USA | 6’0 | 24 years old | Outside hitter | Indy Ignite (USA)
Head coaches, old and new
Just like the imports, there will also be a vast selection of experienced mentors and foreign coaches.
Five foreign coaches will grace the league this conference, two hail from Italy in Nxled's Ettore Guidetti and Farm Fresh's Alessandro Lodi.
The other three are all set for their fist full campaigns in import-laden play which include Capital1's Jorge Souza de Brito (coached select games in 2025 PVL on Tour), Galeries Tower's Godfrey Okumu and Petro Gazz' Gary Van Sickle.
Akari's Tina Salak is also set for her first full campaign as head coach.
The veteran duo of Cignal's Shaq delos Santos and Creamline's Sherwin Meneses will add another feather to their caps in terms of PVL conferences coached, with newly-crowned two-time PVL champion in PLDT's Rald Ricafort set for his ninth salvo.
The full list of PVL head coaches is provided below.
- AKARI: Tina Salak (3rd conference)
- CAPITAL1: Jorge Souza de Brito (2nd conference)
- CHERY TIGGO EV: Norman Miguel (4th conference)
- CHOCO MUCHO: Dante Alinsunurin (8th conference)
- CIGNAL: Shaq delos Santos (14th conference)
- CREAMLINE: Sherwin Meneses (13th conference)
- FARM FRESH: Alessandro Lodi (3rd conference)
- GALERIES TOWER: Godfrey Okumu (1st conference)
- NXLED: Ettore Guidetti (4th conference)
- PETRO GAZZ: Gary Van Sickle (1st conference)
- PLDT: Rald Ricafort (9th conference)
- ZUS COFFEE: Jerry Yee (6th conference)
- *Conference counts as head coach include 2025 PVL on Tour and 2025 PVL Invitational.
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