Creamline, Petro Gazz, Banko Perlas test mettle vs foreign teams in PVL preseason tiff

MANILA, Philippines — The Premier Volleyball League will hold a preseason tournament comprising of three of its top teams Creamline, PetroGazz and BanKo Perlas along with three foreign squads slated in the second week of April this year.

According to league sources, the pocket tournament will consist of one team each from Australia, Vietnam and Taipei apart from the Cool Smashers — the Open Conference champions — the Angels — the Reinforced Conference titlists — and the Perlas Spikers.

The six-team meet will be played in one among the Flying V Centre in San Juan, the Ninoy Aquino Stadium or Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila or the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, where the men’s and women’s volleyball games of the 30th Southeast Asian Games were held last December.

“The PVL will be inviting one squad each from Australia, Vietnam and Taipei and it’s the PVL’s way of saying that the 2020 season is upon us,” a source told The Star Thursday.

Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza — the Reinforced and Open Conference MVPs respectively — are expected to draw the crowd as they spearhead a loaded Creamline squad that is also composed of Michele Gumabao, Julia Morado, Risa Sato and Melissa Gohing among others.

PetroGazz, for its part, has leveled up by recently adding former league MVP Grethcel Soltones and Jerrili Malabanan — who is formerly from the PLDT in the Philippine Superliga -- and Ivy Perez, who last suited up for Foton also in the PSL.

Soltones, Malabanan and Perez thus joined Cherry Rose Nunag, Djanel Cheng, Paneng Mercado, Jeanette Panaga, Maricar Baloaloa, Jonah Sabete and Jovielyn Prado in the team that made it to both the Open and Reinforced finals.

As in the past, the PVL will have three seasons starting with the Reinforced Conference unfurling in the third week of May and followed by the Open and Collegiate Conferences slated simultaneously in mid-June.

It will be tentatively set at the Philsports Arena.

Meanwhile, Chef’s Classic has joined forces with the Philippine Army in the Reinforced Conference with high hopes of contending against the big guns.

Last season, Chef’s Classic has its own team while the Lady Troopers were then partnered with PacificTown.