Teams, coaches all set for ‘marathon’ 3-series challenge
The Premier Volleyball League coaches brace for a challenging marathon in the brand-new All-Filipino Conference, which will be split into three series: Siklab, Sigla and Sinag.
The PVL unveiled the new format on Monday at Novotel Manila, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The first series, Siklab, is set to run from October to December.
The nine-team conference will feature a single-round-robin format in the first two series, with Siklab introducing an all-to-play rule requiring teams to give every player declared on the scoresheet an opportunity to play.
The second series, Sigla, will run from January to March and will remove the all-to-play requirement, allowing coaches to field their strongest lineups.
The top four teams in both Siklab and Sigla will advance to their respective semifinals, with the top two earning a twice-to-beat advantage against Nos. 3 and 4. Each series will have a best-of-three championship.
The PVL will also join forces with the Spikers’ Turf, with the Invitational Conference of the men’s league played on the same game dates in between the two women’s pro league matches.
Creamline will defend its title in all three series, but vows to take it one series at a time.
“I think we’ll focus first on the first leg of the All-Filipino Conference, then take it step by step through the succeeding conferences,” said coach Sherwin Meneses. The Siklab series will kick off on Oct. 10 at SM Seaside in Cebu City.
Rachel Anne Daquis, one of the league’s longest-tenured players now with ZUS Coffee, calls the conference a marathon, with pacing and conditioning as key factors.
“As a player, like the coaches said, it’s going to be a very challenging season for us. First of all, we need to stay healthy throughout the series,” said Daquis.
“But we’ll take it one season at a time and focus first on the October-to-December series. I’m also excited to see the teams that will be playing because I know everyone is preparing for it.”
The final series, Sinag, will run from late March to April, with the standing points accumulated from Siklab and Sigla determining the teams’ seeding.
The top two teams will advance directly to the best-of-three semifinals, while the remaining seven will go through a stepladder for the other two semifinal spots.
Seeds 7, 8 and 9 will first play a single round-robin, with the top two advancing as Nos. 7 and 8, while the ninth-place team is eliminated.
The No. 7 seed will then face No. 6, while No. 8 takes on No. 5. The winners advance to face Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, with the survivors earning semifinal berths against the top two seeds.
The semifinal and championship rounds will both be best-of-three series.
“Of course, it’s challenging again, especially knowing that three series will be used as the basis for the Grand Slam. But for sure, this will still help improve Philippine volleyball. We’re looking forward to the challenges and the competition,” said PLDT two-time champion coach Rald Ricafort.
Nxled Italian coach Ettore Guidetti, who recently earned a breakthrough silver medal in the Invitational, is also elated to play a longer all-Filipino.
“In my opinion, the idea of having a long conference is a very good one. It’s a very good one even if it’s split in three different phases. Obviously, we need to recalibrate the system,” said Guidetti. “[T]he season will be really long, but I really enjoy the fact that we are definitely switching the rules. The balance, the chemistry, is kind of different every single time.”
Choco Mucho coach Dante Alinsunurin agreed: “I think it was a good decision by the PVL to implement an all-to-play format in the first series. This will allow us to see whether some of our players who don’t usually get playing time can step up and play in the second and third series.”
