MANILA: The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) will hold its first rookie draft at Novotel Manila Araneta City in Cubao, Quezon City on Monday.
ZUS Coffee (formerly Strong Group) has the first pick among the 47 players hoping to join any of the 12 teams in the Reinforced Conference kicking off July 16 at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Thunderbelles are eyeing middle blocker Thea Allison Gagate as top overall pick.
“I think we all agreed that the first name we wanted is Thea,’ coach Jerry Yee said during the recent PVL Draft Combine.
Capital1, which has the No. 2 pick, wants a reliable wing spiker.
‘My priority is to get a hitter because if I get a setter, she will only be benched. Iris’ (Tolenada) experience is different. What I want to get is someone I can use and can enter into the team. Our first six, that’s my plan,” Solar Spikers coach Roger Gorayeb said.
Galeries Tower coach Godfrey Okumu said the Highrisers need a middle player, an outside spiker and a third setter.
Farm Fresh, with the fourth
pick, is eyeing Leila Cruz.
‘We’re in a tough spot but we’re very grateful for the fourth pick. Honestly, we are also quite confused right now given the pool of talents available. We will discuss it further with upper management,’ team manager Kiara Cruz said.
Nxled will pick fifth, followed by Akari (6th), Cignal (7th), PLDT (8th), Chery Tiggo (9th), Petro Gazz (10th), Choco Mucho (11th) and Creamline (12th).
The order will be followed in the subsequent rounds until all teams have made their selections or passed.
The Reinforced Conference’s new format will divide the 12 teams into two pools based on their rankings in the All-Filipino Conference.
Champion Creamline, Chery Tiggo, Farm Fresh, Galeries Tower, Nxled and PLDT are in Pool A.
Petro Gazz, the reigning Reinforced champion, is in Pool B, along with Akari, Capital1, Cignal, Choco Mucho and ZUS Coffee.
The preliminary phase will have two stages.
Each pool would play in a single round-robin format during the first round.
In the second round, the
top three teams from Pool A will face the bottom three from Pool B; while the top three squads from Pool B will compete against the lower-ranked teams of Pool A.
After the preliminaries, the teams will be ranked using the FIVB Classification System.
The top eight will advance to the knockout quarterfinals with the winners moving to the semifinals, which will also be decided in a do-or-die match.
The top two teams after the semifinals will compete in the winner-take-all finals, while the losers will battle for bronze.
Source: Philippines News agency
