THERE’S only one seat left in the offing for the 2025 PVL Invitational finals.
With preseason champion PLDT through, only Chery Tiggo and Japan’s Kobe Shinwa University remain in championship contention ahead of the last two days of the preliminary round.
READ: Chery Tiggo makes it a two-team race for other PVL finals seat
On paper, their prelims finale on Friday will ultimately decide which team will challenge the unbeaten High Speed Hitters for the PVL title.
But Kobe Shinwa’s penultimate match against Cignal on Thursday can either give the Japanese side equal footing or a step back from Chery Tiggo before they lock horns the day after.
Here’s what’s at stake in the final two game days before the league crowns its champion again.
CHERY TIGGO (3-1; 8 pts)
FOR A FINALS SEAT: Beat KSU on Friday
The Crossovers have inside track on the last finals seat with a 3-1 (win-loss) record.
They can make it two straight championship duels with PLDT with a win over Kobe Shinwa on Friday.
It won’t matter if they do it in three, four or five sets.
Chery Tiggo only needs to hit the four-win mark with one last victory against the Japanese side to earn a rare second straight shot at a PVL championship.
KOBE SHINWA UNIVERSITY (2-1; 6 pts)
FOR A FINALS SEAT: Beat CTC on Friday; secure superior match points/set ratio if it loses to CHD on Thursday
The road to a PVL Finals debut can still go one or two ways for Kobe Shinwa, with one more game against Cignal before closing out the prelims against Chery Tiggo.
If Kobe Shinwa beats Cignal on Thursday, it will draw level with Chery Tiggo at 3-1 ahead of their Friday duel.
This scenario will turn their prelims finale into a virtual win-and-go in contest for the right to face PLDT in the title game.
However, not all hope would be lost if Kobe Shinwa loses to Cignal.
If the Japanese side rebounds with a win over Chery Tiggo on Friday, they will finish prelims play tied up at 3-2.
Statistical tiebreak metrics will come to play to determine which team advances to the finals.
The first of which will be the total match points earned. Three match points are given for three or four-set wins, two for five-set wins and one for five-set losses.
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