Creamline goes two-for-two in the season while Pocari-Air Force sets out to regain the crown as action in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Open Conference blasts off Saturday, September 22 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Adamson-Akari, BanKo-Perlas, Iriga-Navy, Ateneo-Motolite, PetroGazz and Tacloban complete the eight-team cast slugging it out for top honors in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
Winner of the Reinforced Conference early in the season, the Cool Smashers shoot for another championship but face a tougher, fierce set of rivals out to foil their title drive in the two-and-a-half month long tournament backed by Mikasa and Asics.
Creamline swept PayMaya in the Reinforced finals to claim a breakthrough victory in the league with Asian Games veterans Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado spearheading the star-studded crew in the all-Filipino conference featuring some of the country’s best and rising volley stars.
BaliPure, which dethroned 2016 champion Pocari in last year’s finals here, is skipping this year’s competition.
But the field remains as talent-laden as ever with Pocari likewise fielding in a solid roster led by MVP Myla Pablo, and the likes of Adamson, BanKo-Perlas, Iriga-Navy, PetroGazz and Tacloban all shoring up their respective rosters with key acquisitions during the off-season.
Focus will also be on Ateneo-Motolite, which skipped the recent Collegiate Conference won by University of the Philippines, to toughen for the tournament.
Tacloban and PetroGazz kick off hostilities at 4 p.m. on Saturday with BanKo-Perlas and Iriga-Navy tangling in the 6 p.m. main encounter.
The league, which held out-of-town games in Tuguegarao, Batangas and other provinces in the Reinforced Conference, will hold games in Malolos, Bulacan, Imus, Cavite, Baliwag, Bulacan, Batangas and Cagayan de Oro in its continuing commitment to bring the sport closer to the people.
The Lady Eagles begin their title quest on Sunday against the Lady Warriors in an early marquee matchup with the PetroGazz Angeles and the BanKo-Perlas Spikers colliding in the other match.
