PVL rescheduled to Mar. 16 with 'pool' format

MANILA, Philippines – The 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference has been reset to March 16 from February 16 at one of three venues in Paco, Manila, Lipa City or Alfonso, Cavite to give its nine teams more time to prepare.

Organizing Sports Vision and PVL president Ricky Palou also said it has also shortened its format to give way for the national team, which will get most, if not all, its players from the country’s lone pro volley league, to prepare for the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games slated May 12-23.

The Nationals are reportedly holding a training camp in Brazil after the PVL, which is expected to wrap up its conference on April 9.

"We asked the member teams to give us their inputs and their concerns. After putting all it all together, we decided that the best thing to do for us at this point in time is to move the opening to mid-March," said Palou. 

"But we have to shorten our conference to make way for the training of the national team," he added.

With a short window, the format of the tournament will have a pool play set-up — a first for the league.

Under the new format, the nine member teams, including defending Open Conference champion Chery Tiggo, runner-up Creamline, third placer Petro Gazz, Choco Mucho, Philippine Army, PLDT Home Fibr, BaliPure, Cignal, and PNVF Champions League champion F2 Logistics, will be split into two brackets with one side having five teams.

The top four teams in each pool will advance to the knockout quarterfinals with no team from the pool of four being eliminated. 

The first and second-ranked teams in each pool will have twice-to-beat advantages.

In case of a tie in the number of victories, the tiebreaker will be the points gained after each match —three points for a three- or four-set win; two points for the winner and one point for the loser of a five-setter; and zero points for either a three-set, four-set or forfeit defeat.

If the points still end up in a tie, the set quotient, the point quotient, heads-up matchup for the whole preliminary round, then the set quotient and the point quotient among the teams involved, in that order, will follow as tiebreakers.

The PVL, meanwhile, is looking at holding the event one among the Aquamarine Sports Complex in Lipa, Batangas or Tagaytay Royale in Alfonso, Cavite or Manila if the COVID-19 situation improves.

"We are also looking at the possibility of holding it here in Metro Manila depending on the situation," said Palou. "By mid-February, we will know what our alert level will be."

Teams are already seeking clearance from their respective local government units for permission to train. The Games and Amusements Board and the Inter-Agency Task Force must also approve each team's health and safety protocols to begin training.