THE Philippine National Volleyball Federation holds the Challenge Cup that’s bursting at the seams with 37 teams—20 men and 17 women—starting on Monday (November 6) at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
“This is the biggest local volleyball tournament that will help highlight the season-long activities of the federation,” said Ramon “Tats” Suzara, president of the PNVF. “And with such a big turnout, we’ll be having dozens of matches for almost three weeks of the competition.”
The Challenge Cup will hold its eliminations from November 6 to 9 and 13 to 19 with the quarterfinals scheduled November 20 for the men and 21 for the men, semifinals on November 22 and finals on November 23.
Those sum up to 76 matches—48 men and 36 women—according to Suzara, who added that there will be at least six matches a day and in some days, seven games.
Originally intended to be purely local government unit (LGU)-based, the Challenge Cup, Suzara said, enticed school teams and clubs from all over the country.
“This shows how active volleyball is in the developmental, LGU and school level,” Suzara said. “Volleyball could now rank as the No. 2 team sport in the country after basketball.”
Confirming their participation in the men’s division are Plaridel (Quezon), Orion (Bataan), University of Batangas, University of Santo Tomas, Rizal Technological University -Basilan and Savouge.
Completing the men’s roster are Cignal, Davao City, Iloilo D’Navigators, VNS, Volida, Philippine Navy and Tacloban City and school teams Arellano University, University of the East, Jose Rizal University, Santa Rosa City, National University, Emilio Aguinaldo College and Marikina City.
Davao City, University of Batangas, Arellano University, Volida, Tacloban City, JRU and RTU-Basilan are also fielding teams in the women’s division, which includes Parañaque City, Philippine Air Force and Tagaytay City.
Collegiate squads from De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, San Beda University, University of the Philippines, UP Volleyball Club, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran complete the women’s category.
The Challenge Cup precedes the season-ending Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge which features the world’s top beach volleyball teams set 0n November in Santa Rosa, Laguna.