A TOTAL of 176 matches were played in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) in 2024 — the most the league has staged in a single calendar year.
Over 400,000 fans flocked to game venues nationwide over the span of the 2024 season that include the opening stretch of the longest-ever 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference.
Millions more watched the games on television, making volleyball arguably the most popular sport in the country, more popular than basketball, some observers say.
READ: Creamline's 'best year yet' wasn't all sunshine and rainbows
In many of these games. the teams and players fought and performed as though their lives were on the line. The matches were often tightly contested that even what seemed like an easy three-set victory is not what it is but actually more like a do-or-die encounter.
But some matches, we have to admit, were more thrilling, more exciting and more compelling than others. And, after reviewing and analyzing the results, SPIN.ph has chosen the eight best games of the season.
NOTHING BUT ‘NET’
Akari def. PLDT (2024 PVL Reinforced Conference semifinals)
The PVL as a league has survived and thrived because of the culture of competition that each team has embraced. But it is not immune to controversy. And this one happened in the PVL semifinals and will go down as probably the most controversial in league history.
Akari charged into the PVL Finals for the very first time by winning a heated five-set affair in the knockout semifinals over a breakthrough-seeking PLDT, 25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 26-24, 17-15.
The game was proceeding into becoming a classic until the 14-13 mark of the fifth-set tiebreak.
With PLDT at match point, it called for a mid-rally net touch challenge on Ezra Madrigal’s block attempt on Mika Reyes.
While Madrigal made contact with the net, a post-game forum led by PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo declared that a ‘second motion away from play’ does not warrant a violation' that effectively denied PLDT's protest.
What would have been a finals stint for PLDT became a new lease on life for Akari. The Chargers took advantage and won the next three points to complete the comeback victory.
PLDT which believed that it had been robbed of a chance to play for the title, announced plans to lodge a formal protest. But was eventually overruled by the league.
THRILLA IN ‘MARINA’
Cignal def. Capital1 (2024 PVL Reinforced Conference quarterfinals)
Capital1’s Russian reinforcement Marina Tushova etched her name in the annals of the sport — not once, not twice, but thrice — thereby establishing herself as possibly the greatest guest import Philippine volleyball has ever seen.
She broke the PVL's single-game scoring record in quick succession with two of them completed just 10 days apart.
Tushova signed off her historic Philippine debut for the young Solar Spikers with a bang when she fired a one-of-a-kind 50-point performance in their 19-25, 34-36, 25-16, 25-22, 12-15 quarterfinals loss to Cignal.
She also reset the league’s single-game attacking record with 47 kills, two blocks and one ace to go on top of a huge triple-double effort with 16 digs and 12 receptions.
What it took for the HD Spikers to foil Capital1’s reverse-sweep bid and Tushova’s point-blank scoring spree? The defensive performance of a lifetime with 16 team blocks, 49 digs and 46 receptions.
COOLEST GRAND SLAM
Creamline def. Cignal (2024 PVL Invitational Conference finals)
Even more history was made later in the year when Creamline completed Philippine volleyball’s first Grand Slam with its record 10th PVL championship in a 21-25, 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 15-13 fightback over a feisty Cignal side.
Whether in the prelims, playoffs or the finals, every Creamline-Cignal match in 2024 was nerve-wracking regardless of which team one rooted for.
In this particular occasion, the MJ Perez-led HD Spikers were a set away from denying the Cool Smashers’ third straight attempt at a championship hat-trick.
But as the old saying goes, one can never underestimate the heart of a champion.
The fearsome duo of Jema Galanza and Bernadeth Pons backed 24-year-old American import Erica Staunton in sending Creamline over the line after two closely-contested final sets to bring the Grand Slam home.
Veteran spiker Michele Gumabao was crowned Invitational Conference MVP while two-time best setter Kyle Negrito bagged Finals MVP honors.
TOTS MAKES HISTORY
Creamline def. Cignal (2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference preliminary round)
Speaking of Creamline and Cignal, this prior encounter in the season-opening All-Filipino Conference was to be remembered in more ways than one.
It was a comeback for the ages for the mighty Cool Smashers as they erased an 0-2 deficit in style, 26-28, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14.
Tots Carlos went off for a career-high 38-piece on 35 attacks and three blocks, setting a new pro volleyball scoring record for a local player.
Down three match points in set 5 at 11-14, Carlos pulled out every trick in the book from power kills to off-speed hits to score four of Creamline’s last five match-winning points.
Season-high numbers defined the Cool Smashers’ reverse-sweep triumph with 100 excellent digs and 35 excellent sets from lead playmaker Kyle Negrito.
SWEET FIRST WIN
Choco Mucho def. Creamline (2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference semifinals)
Two things are almost always certain when sister teams Creamline and Choco Mucho share the stage: fans and fireworks.
Thousands of fans flocked each and every edition of the ‘Rebisco Clasico’ despite having the same pink outcome in 16 of the 17 times it was played over the last five years.
But in was their 13th try that proved luckiest of all as the Flying Titans landed a crafty 13-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 18-16 reverse-sweep on top of an extended fifth set to outlast the Cool Smashers in the opening match of the All-Filipino Conference round-robin semifinals.
It took a strong 23-point showcase from Sisi Rondina, including the last two match-clinching points, to put Creamline away despite an identical output from fellow PVL MVP Jema Galanza and a conference-best 21 from Alyssa Valdez.
An unsung hero also emerged for the Flying Titans in Royse Tubino who had a double-double of 20 points and 12 digs.
PHOTO FINISH
Akari def. Petro Gazz (2024 PVL Reinforced Conference preliminary round)
Akari and Petro Gazz’ Reinforced Conference showdown was the perfect example of a back-and-forth affair.
It took two hours and 50 minutes to settle the only match this year in which four of five sets played, two of which being extended sets, were decided by exactly two points.
The final score? 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 29-27, 16-14 in the Chargers’ favor.
Akari’s one-two-punch, one worth 50 points combined, in American import Oly Okaro and Grethcel Soltones gave them their first franchise win over reigning Reinforced Conference champion Petro Gazz.
The Chargers duo also landed the last three game-winning points to negate the Angels’ 14-13 match point advantage and leave Brooke Van Sickle’s 24 and Cuban ace Wilma Salas’ 22 for naught.
SECOND-SET SPRINT
Farm Fresh def. Galeries Tower (2024 PVL Reinforced Conference preliminary round)
While the Foxies and Highrisers might not be atop the league’s competitive pecking order, at least for now, they did put on a show when they squared off in import-laden play.
This historic match saw the league’s second-longest set in terms of score unfold: a 37-35 win for Galeries Tower in Set 2 that lasted 45 minutes.
Their second-set sprint saw 11 deadlocks, seven Highrisers set points, and five Foxies set points before Roselle Baliton’s quick attack off a broken play got the job done.
Despite the hiccup, it was Farm Fresh that had the last laugh in the end as it escaped a 25-22, 35-37, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10 five-set thriller.
That set only fell a few points behind Choco Mucho and Pacific Town Army’s 51-minute-long 41-39 exchange in the 2019 PVL Open Conference as the longest set in PVL history.
UPSET DENIED
Creamline def. ZUS Coffee (2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference preliminary round)
It might still be early days in what will be a five-month-long All-Filipino Conference, but upset bids have swung towards the league’s usual title protagonists.
Even defending champion Creamline wasn’t spared from one.
In fact, the Cool Smashers’ closing act of 2024 was a rather nervy one as it nearly suffered its first loss of the season to a resurgent ZUS Coffee side that pushed them to the distance.
Returning captain Alyssa Valdez's best game back from a four-month injury layoff with 17 points was just what Creamline needed to survive a 25-22, 28-30, 26-24, 17-25, 15-13 scare.
A Jema Galanza triple-double of 15 points, 12 digs and 12 receptions also helped ease the pressure for the Cool Smashers when it mattered most.
Kate Santiago’s 19 and the PVL's inaugural top draft pick Thea Gagate’s 15 for the revamped Thunderbelles, four of whom were in double digits, nearly had it in the endgame.
ZUS Coffee may have lost the game, but it won in terms of confidence and experience which will benefit them in the coming games.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
