A bigger and busier 2023 looms for Philippine volleyball.
The opening of collegiate volleyball wars is just around the corner.
The Premier Volleyball League as well as other amateur tournaments brace for an even more explosive staging of their respective competitions while Filipino spikers are also set to compete in major international tournaments this year.
Collegiate action gets underway early this year with National University looking to write history by completing a sweep of all indoor volleyball events in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85.
Although the country’s premier collegiate league has yet to announce its formal opening, the Bustillos-based squads are branded as favorites in women’s and men’s as well in the boys’ and girls’ high school divisions.
All eyes are on the Lady Bulldogs as they try to make a repeat of their impressive unbeaten title run in Season 84 last year when the UAAP returned after a three-year pandemic hiatus.
Expectations are high for NU as it parades an intact championship core composed of first-ever Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Ces Robles, Sheena Toring, Cams Lamina, and top libero Jen Nierva.
But the Lady Bulldogs, who ruled the inaugural Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Preseason Championship last year months after ending a 65-year UAAP title drought also in unbeaten fashion, are sure to face stiff competition as other teams are also making serious preparations and tapping skilled recruits for a chance to knock them off the throne.
The men’s and high school divisions will return to the UAAP calendar with NU defending all three titles.
The Bulldogs seek a three-peat as well as the Bullpups while the Junior Lady Bulldogs eye to retain the title they won in 2019.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is also set to unwrap its Season 98 volleyball tournament with College of Saint Benilde defending its women’s title following an unbeaten romp last year and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta gunning for a three-peat with the return of the men’s division.
In the professional stage, the PVL tentatively begins its third season on 4 February.
Creamline will defend its Open and Invitational Conference crowns with hopes of dislodging Reinforced Conference champion Petro Gazz, which denied it off a grand slam last year.
This early, teams are expected to beef up their respective rosters with active recruitment and player transfers and movements which makes this coming three-conference PVL season more exciting.
“We’re really looking to have three conferences this season starting with the Open Conference, Invitational and Reinforced,” PVL organizer Sports Vision president Ricky Palou said.
Palou also bared the possibility of at least two new clubs coming in to join the current nine-club field.
The SSL is also planning to hold a couple of pocket tournaments this month until February before the July staging of the National Invitational.
The top three teams from the UAAP and the NCAA will face the two qualifiers each from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in a weeklong 12-team field tilt to be held in Manila.
“This year the SSL will be bigger. We are planning other tournaments which will further emphasize our involvement with the schools, colleges, and women’s volleyball,” SSL organizer Athletics Events and Sports Management Inc. chairman Philip Ella Juico.
It will also be a busy year for the national team as the Philippine National Volleyball Federation is now in the process of forming competitive teams that will participate in the Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games slated from 5 to 17 May.
The women’s squad hunts for the elusive podium finish since finishing third in the 2005 Manila edition of the regional sports meet.
The men’s team, on the other hand, hopes to get back in the top three after taking the silver medal in 2019.
International teams will also return to the Philippines this July as the country hosts the third week of the Volleyball Nations League men’s division.
Fan-favorite Japan will be joined by Italy, Canada, Slovenia, China, Brazil, Netherlands, and South Korea for the second stop of the VNL in the country after hosting both the men’s and women’s events last year.
Focus will also be on homegrown talent Jaja Santiago as she continues to lead Saitama Ageo Medics in the ongoing season of the Japan V. League.
Bryan Bagunas is also currently campaigning in the Taichung LianZhuang WinStreak in Taiwan’s Top Volleyball League.
More local stars are expected to sign deals abroad including Dindin Manabat, who seeks to play in a club in South Korea after parting ways with PVL team Chery Tiggo last week.
After a successful 2022, hopes are high for Philippine volleyball to continue its momentum in the coming year.
