VOLLEYBALL made its grand comeback in 2021 with the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) successfully staging its first tournament as a professional entity and the birth of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) bringing back the country to international competition amid the pandemic.
Philippine volleyball in 2021
The PVL just got bigger this year with the Philippine Superliga teams jumping ship to turn pros with PLDT and Cignal transferring to the league when it signed a broadcast partnership with Cignal TV before Chery Tiggo, and F2 Logistics followed suit.
However, the league also lost two teams with Motolite filing a leave of absence early this year and Unlimited Athletes Club, which was supposed to join the Open Conference but also took a leave. Days before the opener, F2 Logistics opted to skip the conference due to several injured players from their bubble training in Batangas.
It was a roller coaster PVL bubble as it was forced to transfer from the Centennial Arena in Laoag to PCV Socio-Civic and Cultural Center in Bacarra after the former was placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine a week before the opener last July 17.
Hours before the opener, a member of the Perlas delegation tested positive that caused postponement of its first week matches. They eventually saw action and completed their elimination-round matches.
The 10-team Open Conference also overcame weather delays due to heavy rains and late changes to Ilocos Norte’s quarantine restrictions that compressed the final weeks of the tournament including the final three playdates of the elimination, semifinals and finals.
But those challenges didn’t stop the league from pulling off a successful bubble, especially for Chery Tiggo, which overcame all the challenges on and off the court.
Led by Conference and Finals MVP Jaja Santiago and her elder sister Dindin Manabat, the Crossovers were hailed as maiden pro champions pulling off a series comeback against the Alyssa Valdez-led Creamline Cool Smashers with an epic come-from-behind five-set win in Game 3.
The PVL eyed to stage another conference in Manila last November, but officials decided to scrap it due to quarantine restrictions during that time.
After a roller-coaster year, the PVL vowed to stage a bigger and better season in 2022 by staging the Open Conference either in February or March with the fans back at the stands and bring back the imports in the Reinforced Conference tentatively set in October.
Meanwhile, the PNVF also emerged as the new NSA under the leadership of Tats Suzara, uniting with other volleyball officials and receiving the recognition from the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Asian Volleyball Confederation, and FIVB.
As early as April, the new federation quickly formed the national pools for men, women and beach volleyball in preparation for the Southeast Asian Games and other international events. It also tapped Brazilian coach Jorge Edson Souza de Brito to work hand in hand with Women’s team coach Odjie Mamon and backed Kalei Mau in making her eligible to play for the Philippine squad from USA volleyball.
However, the PNVF was filled with controversies with only 16 players attending out of the 40 invited and when it added more players to the 25-man pool that saw mainstays Alyssa Valdez, Jia Morado, and other stars excluded.
Suzara insisted a "no tryouts, no national team" policy, but some of the late additions didn’t join the tryouts. Mamon and Souza de Brito said they wanted "young, tall and fresh bloods" that’s why they selected more collegiate players and newcomers.
Although the fans didn’t like the non-inclusion of Valdez and Co., the youth brigade bannered by Mhicaela Belen, Faith Nisperos, Eya Laure, Ivy Lacsina, Imee Hernandez, Kamille Cal, Jennifer Nierva and Deth Pepito showed a glimpse of a bright future for Philippine women’s volleyball.
Belen, Nisperos, and others showed maturity beyond their years against the top club teams in the continent, leading Rebisco in the Asian Women’s Volleyball Club Championship last October despite the last-minute changes in their team after Laure, Lacsina, Manabat, and Aby Maraño failed to clear health and safety protocols in the opener.
Choco Muco, the other national team down to 10 women after Kat Tolentino begged off and Kianna Dy and Majoy Baron were transferred to Rebisco, also showed valiant effort despite winning only one match against its fellow Philippine squad led by Mau, Mylene Paat, and newcomer Deanna Wong.
PNVF was supposed to host the Asian Women’s Seniors Volleyball Championship in Pampanga last October but the surge of Covid-19 cases forced the tournament to be moved to November before it got shelved indefinitely.
Despite the postponement of its hosting, the federation successfully staged the Champions League for women last November despite the backing out of Sta. Lucia that brought the division down to six teams and the men’s tournament in the first week of December both held in Lipa, Batangas for two weeks.
F2 Logistics dominated the women’s division, beating all six teams, while Team Dasma, composed of unsuccessful college standouts, defied the odds against the national team-laden Go for Gold Air Force to complete a sweep in the men’s division.
Beach Volleyball also had a fruitful year with the PSL raising the curtains for the sport’s comeback last February with a three-day tournament in Subic before the exodus of its teams.
Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) also returned to action in Sta. Ana, Cagayan both in men’s and women’s with two legs, while the national teams competed in the AVC Cup last June and Asian Seniors Volleyball Championship last November and youth players Jayrack De La Noche and Alexander Iraya saw action in FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships all held in Thailand.
Philippine Volleyball is set to be busier in 2022 as the PNVF braces for the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam and it also seeks to bring all of its national teams in the 19th Asian Games in China.
The federation is also hosting the prestigious Volleyball Nations League in June and AVC Cup for women in August and a 1 Star FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in December on top of the local tournaments like the Champions League and other national events.
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