By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Six teams, led by defending champion Creamline, open their title campaigns on June 27 when the 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference opens shop at the FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan City.
The Cool Smashers take on the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the 6:30 p.m. main game with high hopes of extending their reign after also winning the All Filipino crown in March.
The Cignal HD Spikers and the comebacking Foton Tornadoes raise the curtain in their 1:30 p.m. tussle, followed by the tussle between neophyte Farm Fresh and F2 Logistics at 4 p.m.
A total of 11 squads are competing in the conference with teams split into two brackets.
Pool A is composed of Akari, Chery Tiggo, Creamline, Gerflor and PLDT, while Pool B has Choco Mucho, Cignal, F2 Logistics, Farm Fresh, Foton and Petro Gazz.
Preliminary matches will be held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Arena.
The semifinals and classification phase will start on July 20 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, with the championship series expected to commence on July 30 at the same venue.
Aside from the 11 squads, two foreign teams are also expected to join after preliminaries similar to last year’s format where KingWhale Taipei from Chinese Taipei fought and finished with the silver medal.
Creamline remains the heavy favorite to win the title anew, with fans expecting star player Alyssa Valdez to return full force after being sidelined with a knee injury the past months.
Valdez, who underwent a procedure in February, played sparingly in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last month to the disappointment of her fans.
