THE past two months have delivered a jolt to Philippine club volleyball, with seismic exits from franchises long regarded as pillars of the sport.
In rapid succession, the PVL saw both its first professional champion and its most recent titleholder step away, as Chery Tiggo disbanded and Petro Gazz took a leave of absence.
Not long after, Spikers’ Turf followed suit with the departure of its standard-bearer, Cignal, the most dominant force the men’s league has ever seen.
READ: Here's how much it costs to run a PVL team amid recent exits
Whether through full disbandment or an indefinite pause in operations, the speed and scale of these developments have sent shockwaves across both leagues.
Losing three championship-caliber teams, each with deep histories, strong followings, and proven success, within weeks of each other has inevitably raised questions about the long-term sustainability of the local club volleyball ecosystem.
League stakeholders have acknowledged the growing strain brought about by rising operational costs, from player salaries and staff compensation to logistics and year-round competition demands.
In response, remedial measures are now being explored and rolled out such as the PVL’s planned revenue-sharing model, a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at easing the financial burden on teams and encouraging long-term participation.
Still, with the list of exiting teams now at three, there is a growing sense that these solutions must be accelerated and refined.
The urgency extends beyond franchises alone, touching players whose careers are disrupted, coaches forced into sudden transitions and fans left grappling with the abrupt disappearance of familiar contenders.
As the leagues navigate this uncertain stretch, the exits of Chery Tiggo, Petro Gazz and Cignal serve as both a warning and a turning point that underscore the need for structural reforms to ensure stability without sacrificing competitiveness.
Here, SPIN.ph looks back at the storied runs of the three champion teams that have recently called it quits, tracing their rise, dominance and the circumstances that ultimately led to their departures from Philippine volleyball.
Dec. 2, 2025: CHERY TIGGO EV DISBANDS
- CLUB TENURE: July 17, 2021 (PVL debut) to December 2, 2025
- CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1 (PVL)
- RUNNERS-UP: 2 (PVL - 1; PNVF - 1)
- BRONZE: 1 (PNVF)
Chery Tiggo’s story in the PVL began with promise, poetry and a championship that once seemed impossible to replicate.
When the league officially turned pro in 2021, the Crossovers entered as part of the inaugural Open Conference, emerging from the ashes of the defunct Philippine Superliga where they previously competed as the Foton Tornadoes for seven years.
With most PSL clubs making the jump to the PVL, Chery Tiggo followed suit and took part in the bubble tournament staged in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte at the height of the pandemic.
What followed was a fairytale start against perennial powerhouse Creamline in which the Crossovers overturned a 0-1 deficit in a best-of-three title series to claim their first and only PVL championship.
Jaja Santiago stood at the center of that breakthrough run, sweeping both conference and Finals MVP honors while also earning the second best middle blocker award.
The success spilled over into regional play later that year as Chery Tiggo secured a silver medal in the inaugural 2021 PNVF Champions League for Women, finishing second in a six-team round-robin competition.
But the momentum proved difficult to sustain.
With Santiago eventually taking her talents overseas to Japan, the Crossovers found themselves repeatedly knocking on the door but never quite breaking through again.
Across the next nine PVL conferences, Chery Tiggo hovered in the middle of the pack, finishing fourth three times, fifth twice, sixth once and eighth thrice, often just a few steps away from true title contention.
Their lone resurgence came in the 2025 PVL on Tour preseason tournament, where they reached their first Finals since 2021, only to settle for silver after a five-set loss to PLDT.
That proved to be their last meaningful run as the Crossovers bowed out with a fourth-place finish in the Invitational Conference and a 10th-place exit in the Reinforced Conference.
In December last year, the engines finally stopped.
“With heavy hearts, we announce the closing of the Chery Tiggo EV Crossovers’ chapter after 11 unforgettable years in professional volleyball,” the club said in its farewell statement.
“From our beginnings as the Foton Tornadoes to our journey as the Chery Tiggo EV Crossovers, we celebrate the milestones: the championships, the talent we developed and representing the Philippines on the big stage.”
Jan. 11, 2026: PETRO GAZZ TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE
- CLUB TENURE: May 6, 2018 (PVL debut) to December 2, 2025
- CHAMPIONSHIPS: 5 (PVL - 4; PNVF - 1)
- RUNNERS-UP: 3 (PVL)
- BRONZE: 3 (PVL - 2; PNVF - 1)
Petro Gazz rarely found itself on the outside looking in during its seven-year stay in the PVL.
While its debut campaign in 2018 bannered by former La Salle and Benilde standouts ended a few rungs short of early title contention, the Angels wasted little time establishing themselves as a perennial championship fixture.
From 2019 onward, Petro Gazz became a near-constant presence deep into tournaments.
The Angels finished on the podium in six of the next seven conferences and reached the finals five times, a run that began with their breakthrough championship in the 2019 Reinforced Conference.
That maiden title was followed by two silver medals and a bronze across the Open Conferences staged from 2019 to 2022.
Apart from a rare stumble to sixth place in the 2022 Invitational Conference, Petro Gazz quickly regained its footing.
Back-to-back finals appearances ensued, highlighted by a title conquest over Cignal in the 2022 Reinforced Conference and a runner-up finish to Creamline in the 2023 First All-Filipino Conference.
Consistency, however, briefly gave way to volatility in late 2023, as the Angels slipped to ninth and sixth in the final two tournaments of that season.
The tide turned once more with the arrival of Brooke Van Sickle, whose impact was immediate and transformative.
The Fil-American ace helped Petro Gazz capture the 2024 PNVF Champions League crown and return to the PVL podium with a bronze medal in the 2024 All-Filipino Conference.
The Angels’ final stretch in the league became a tale of extremes.
After finishing sixth in the 2025 Reinforced Conference and ninth in the PVL on Tour, Petro Gazz surged one last time by winning the 2024–25 All-Filipino Conference and adding another title in the year-ending import-laden tournament.
They also posted a respectable sixth-place finish in the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Champions League just days after their All-Filipino triumph.
Ultimately, a failed merger bid with Nxled and mounting realities off the court brought the run to a close, as Petro Gazz announced a leave of absence earlier this month.
“This decision was made with careful consideration, as volleyball has always been at the core of Petro Gazz’s identity,” the club said.
“Over the years, the team built a legacy of excellence — winning four PVL championships, developing national team-caliber athletes and establishing itself as one of the league’s pillars.”
From contenders to champions, Petro Gazz exits the stage as one of the most successful and defining franchises in PVL history.
Jan. 30, 2026: CIGNAL TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE
- CLUB TENURE: May 21, 2014 (PSL debut) to December 2, 2025
- CHAMPIONSHIPS: 12 (ST - 7; PVL - 2; PNVF - 2; PSL - 1)
- RUNNERS-UP: 5 (ST - 4; PVL - 1)
- BRONZE: 2 (ST)
Cignal’s grip on Philippine men’s volleyball for more than a decade was nothing short of absolute.
The former HD Spikers burst onto the scene in the 2015 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, finishing fourth in an eight-team field in what would be their lone non-podium result for years to come.
What followed was an era of sustained dominance that firmly established Cignal as the benchmark of success in the men’s game.
Counting its brief stint in the PVL from 2017 to 2018, still under the Sports Vision umbrella, the now-Super Spikers went on an extraordinary run of 16 straight podium finishes after that debut season.
Only Creamline, with 19 consecutive podium appearances in the PVL, managed a longer streak across Philippine volleyball.
That stretch translated to a staggering haul of nine championships, five runner-up finishes and two bronze medals, numbers that remain unmatched in the men’s ranks.
Beyond Spikers’ Turf, Cignal also found success in the Philippine Superliga, collecting gold and silver medals in both indoor and beach volleyball, along with a bronze in beach play.
On the international front, the Super Spikers added two PNVF Champions League titles in 2022 and 2024, plus a silver medal in the 2023 PNVF Challenge Cup.
Even earlier, their 2015 campaign in the AVC Club Volleyball Championship saw them finish 12th against Asia’s best clubs.
Cignal’s legacy also lies in the talent it produced as the franchise became home to some of the country’s finest men’s volleyball players, including Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo, many of whom went on to become national team mainstays and secure contracts overseas.
Yet just weeks before the opening of the year-starting Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Cignal brought that storied run to a halt by announcing a leave of absence.
“This difficult decision was made after a careful review by management of Cignal’s current and future plans,” the club said.
With champion teams stepping aside in recent months, Cignal’s exit only adds to growing questions about the long-term trajectory of Philippine volleyball’s premier leagues.
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