THE stage is set for another historic event in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL): its inaugural Rookie Draft Lottery.
Four teams have a chance at landing what could possibly be a franchise-pivoting top overall pick based on the final standings of the recently-concluded, season-opening 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
The 2024 PVL Rookie Draft Lottery airs live on Monday, 7 p.m. in 'The Starting Lineup' on RPTV and Pilipinas Live.
READ: All you need to know about the inaugural PVL Rookie Draft
Part of the PVL's pursuit of parity is to veer away from the traditional practice of granting the No. 1 pick to the lowest-ranked team.
Such a move arises on the grounds of discouraging teams from strategically underperforming or 'tanking' in a certain conference or season just to secure the top draft pick.
And for the league's first-ever draft, there isn't any shortage of high-profile names and multi-awarded aces for the 12 PVL teams to choose from.
Leading the 47-player field is two-time UAAP best middle blocker and Alas Pilipinas' Thea Gagate alongside a trio of fellow La Salle champions in setter Julia Coronel, spiker Maicah Larroza and the returning Leila Cruz who missed all of Seasons 85 and 86 with an ACL tear.
More UAAP stars are in the offing in the league's maiden draft pool with the likes of Ateneo captain Roma Doromal, University of the Philippines' veteran trio Steph Bustrillo, Jewel Encarnacion and Abi Goc and Adamson's seven-player draft contingent led by Lucille Almonte and Karen Verdeflor.
Two Fil-Canadian hotshots are also up for the taking in Aleiah Torres of Brock University and Nathalie Ramacula of Red River College Polytechnic.
Draft lottery and order
Based on the league table, newly-rebranded Zus Coffee (formerly Strong Group Athletics), ranked 12th, holds the highest likelihood of securing the top pick at 40 percent.
No. 11th-ranked Capital1 follows suit with a 30 percent chance, followed by Galeries Tower at 20 percent (ranked 10th) and Farm Fresh at 10 percent (ranked 9th).
Not all 12 teams, however, will be included in the draft lottery as the top eight teams will be reverse-ranked, effectively setting the field for the fifth to 12th picks.
As such, the rest of the drafting order will proceed as follows: Nxled (5th), Akari (6th), Cignal (7th), PLDT (8th), Chery Tiggo (9th), Petro Gazz (10th), Choco Mucho (11th) and reigning champion Creamline (12th).
The draft lottery result for the top four picks followed by the reverse pecking order of the rest of the field will be the drafting order from the first round to every succeeding round until all teams opt to pass.
Pre-draft activities continue on Tuesday and Wednesday with the two-day, closed-door PVL Rookie Draft Combine featuring the 47 qualified draft applicants and league free agents at Gameville Ball Park in Mandaluyong City.
From there, the much-anticipated PVL Rookie Draft follows suit on July 8 at the Novotel Manila Araneta City in Quezon City.
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