Two foreign teams bring their act to the Premier Volleyball League to atone for the absence of F2 Logistics and Balipure, which have both begged off from the PVL Invitationals which get going on July 2.
Kobe Shinwa Women’s University squad from Japan, which ruled the Invitational Cup of the defunct Philippine Superliga in 2017, and the Taipei King Whales, a top team in the Taiwan Volleyball League, compete in the semifinal round starting on Aug. 29 against the four best local sides at the end of a single-round, seven-team eliminations.
Petro Gazz, runner-up to Creamline in the first conference, and last year’s Open champion Chery Tiggo are also in the fold along with Cignal HD, Choco Mucho, Army Black Mamb and PLDT, which return after a three-month respite.
F2 Logistics, a multi-titled team from the Philippine Superliga, and longtime PVL mainstay Balipure have begged off from the mid-season showpiece.
Play in the elims will have the local teams play a single round with the top four advancing to the next round where the Japan and Taiwan squads will launch their respective bids in another single round format.
All squads will be ranked using the FIVB Ranking System with the top four moving to the next phase.
“It is our continuing commitment to raise the level of local volleyball and the presence of the Japan and Taiwan squads will surely help toughen up the competition and improve the quality of play,” said Sports Vision president Ricky Palou.
The league, meanwhile, will take a break in the middle of the semis from July 11 to Aug. 20 to give way to the Phl-WVT training in preparation for the AVC (Asian Women’s Volleyball Cup) 2022 on Aug. 21-28.
The local teams will first play among each other in the semis before the break with matches to resume on Aug. 29 with the foreign teams testing the local squads’ mettle.
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