Champions’ League for men, women set in November

THE Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) in a virtual meeting on Tuesday night set the men and women Champions’ League (CL) in November, capping a modestly busy end-quarter federation calendar.

PNVF President Ramon “Tats” Suzara, upon the recommendation of the CL Working Group, set the Women’s CL from November 13 to 19 and the Men’s CL from November 20 to 26.

Eight teams will play as many as 24 matches in each category.

The PNVF is eyeing either the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Laoag City, Claro M. Recto Events Center in Lipa City or Tagaytay City as potential venue for the semi-bubble competitions.

Joining Suzara in the meeting were PNVF Secretary General Don Caringal, Vice President Dr. Arnel Hajan and Board Members Charo Soriano, Carmela Gamboa and Yul Benosa and Technical and Coaching Commission Chairman Coach Jerry Yee.

Representatives from Metro Manila clubs Cignal HD, Black Mamba-army, Sta. Lucia, Chery Tiggo, Petrogazz and F2 Logistics, as well as teams from Baguio City and Iligan City also attended the oneand-a-half hour virtual meeting.

The CL is a national league owned by the PNVF which aims to bring together all volleyball stakeholders through a high level of play at the club level, according to Suzara.

“It is also one of the PNVF’S 10-point agendas which is to serve Filipino families with entertainment through volleyball and to make volleyball a widely played sport by elevating it through high-performance competition,” Suzara said.

One of the CL’S objectives is to strengthen and sustain the country’s national team program through an alternate yet equally strong platform.

In the preliminary round, the eight clubs will be divided into two pools of four teams playing in a round-robin format. At the end of pool play, the teams will be ranked and will advance to the quarterfinals playing a cross-over single elimination as follows:

The quarterfinals winners will advance to the semifinals, while the losing clubs will play in the classification round: The semifinals winners will advance to the gold medal match, while the losing teams will play for the bronze medal.

The two winning clubs in the first stage of the classification phase will figure in the fifth to sixth place match, while the losing teams will play in the seventh to eighth place match.

Deadline for the submission of 20-player rosters is on October 20.