By NIKOLE JAVIER
Japanese and Vietnamese teams are set to spice up the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference as foreign guest squads, the league announced on Thursday, July 6.Â
For the second consecutive year, PVL has invited foreign clubs after previously having KingWhale Taipei of Taiwan in the 2022 edition.
This time, Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan and Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam are the two club teams seeing action in the round-robin semifinals of the tournament against the two best teams from Pool A and B.
The Kurashiki Ablaze side packs a lot of promise with hitters Saya Taniguchi, Sayaka Tanida, Yukino Yano and Saki Tanabe and opposite strikers Asaka Tamaru, Reina Fujiwara and Honoka Okuda expected to lead their charge.
The team, which campaigns in the Japan V.League Division 3, topped the 13th National Six-Man Volleyball League, Western tournament, placed second in the 12th National Volleyball League and finished third in the 13th National Volleyball League Grand Champion Match.
Kinh Bac-Back Ninh, on the other hand, gained status when it bagged first place and earned the right to compete in Vietnam’s National Championship in 2018. Ranged against the strongest teams, it nailed the bronze medal in 2019 and finished among the Top 3 in the next two years.
The 11-team mid-year conference is currently on a 10-day break to give way to the Philippine National Volleyball Federation’s (PNVF) ongoing hosting of the men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Week 3.
Defending champion Creamline, which sent the Taiwanese team packing last year, leads the standings in Pool A against PLDT, Chery Tiggo, Akari and Gerflor.
F2 Logistics and Choco Mucho, on the other hand, hold a similar 2-0 slate as they clash when the tournament resumes on July 11.
Pool B also features All-Filipino finalist Petro Gazz, Cignal, comebacking Foton and debuting Farm Fresh, which are both still winless.