OFFICIALS of the PVL, Spikers’ Turf and Cignal, as well as team coaches, pose during the press launch of the league’s 10th season on Monday at the Novotel Hotel.
Photograph by Joey Sanchez Mendoza for DAILY TRIBUNE
A bolder, more exciting and competitive All-Filipino Conference format ushers in the landmark 10th season of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).
Divided into three distinct series — Siklab, Sigla and Sinag -the format gives clubs more opportunities to compete, more chances for players to showcase their skills, and puts greater value on every game on the road to a single ultimate prize — the Philippine Grand Championship.
Siklab will begin on 10 October at the state-of-the-art SM Seaside Cebu Arena.
“For this All-Filipino Conference, we will have three series. Now, each series will earn points, and those points will be added up, which will be the basis of their rankings for the third series. In each series, we will have a champion until the third one. So, it’s all round-robin,” PVL commissioner Sherwin Malonzo said during the season's press launch on Monday at the Novotel Manila.
The first two series will each crown their own champion while awarding standings points that will carry over into the third and final series. Those accumulated points will determine the teams’ overall rankings and seeding for Sinag, setting the stage for an intense final push toward the Philippine Grand Championship.
In other words, every match will matter from the opening serve to the final point. A team’s performance in the first two series will not simply be remembered as a separate chapter — it will shape its position, path and chances of winning the grand prize.
Siklab will run until 4 December and will feature a single round-robin elimination.
The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, with the top two earning a twice-to-beat advantage against the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. The series will then culminate in a best-of-three championship.
But Siklab comes with a unique twist: an all-to-play rule that requires a team to field all available players in its roster.
The second series will follow the same basic competitive structure — a single round-robin elimination, followed by semifinals featuring the top four teams, with the top two again holding twice-to-beat advantages, and a best-of-three championship.
The major difference is that coaches will have the freedom to deploy their strongest combinations and make the tactical decisions they believe give their teams the best chance to win.
“For the second series, it’s the same. But the difference between the first and the second is that the teams are required to play all their players declared on the scoresheet. Whereas in the second series, it’s all power. It’s up to the coaches who to field,” Malonzo explained.
The standings points earned in both Siklab and Sigla will become increasingly valuable, with every win potentially affecting a team’s position heading into the decisive final series.
Sinag will serve as the grand culmination of the AFC, transforming the accumulated results of the first two series into a high-stakes stepladder race for the Philippine Grand Championship.
The top two teams in the overall standings after Siklab and Sigla will earn direct berths in the best-of-three semifinals. The other seven teams, meanwhile, will have to survive a demanding stepladder format.
“What will happen in the third series is a step-ladder format. The top two teams after adding up the points will wait in the semifinals, and then the rest will go through a step-ladder format, separated into two groups until we identify who will become the third- and fourth-placed teams,” Malonzo said.
The climb begins with Nos. 7and 9 seeds battling in a single round-robin. The top two finishers will advance as the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, while the third-placed team will finish ninth and see its campaign come to an end.
The No. 7 seed will then face No. 6, while No. 8 takes on No. 5. The winners of those matchups will advance to face the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.
The survivors will then have to clear one final hurdle before reaching the semifinals: a best-of-three showdown against the top two seeds.
Whoever survives the final best-of-three championship series will be crowned the Philippine Grand Champion.
