Thirty-six collegiate, club, and local government unit (LGU)-based teams will clash as the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) launches the Challenge Cup, starting on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila. Twenty squads in the men’s division and 16 in the women’s division will compete in 15 days of intense volleyball action, marking the penultimate tournament hosted by the PNVF, led by Ramon “Tats” Suzara, this year.
UAAP champion National University and reigning PNVF Champions League titlist Cignal headline the cast in the men’s division of the tournament supported by PLDT, Rebisco, Akari, Foton, and CBPI.
NU is in Pool B with RTU-Basilan, Arellano University, VNS Asereht, and University of the East-Cherrylume, while Cignal leads Pool A with Kuya JM-Davao City, Savouge Aesthetics, Volida Volleyball Club, and University of Batangas.
PGJC Navy, 3B Marikina City, Angatleta-Orion, Bataan, Jose Rizal University, and Plaridel, Quezon are in Pool C, and UAAP runner-up University of Santo Tomas, Tacloban City-EV, Iloilo D’Navigators, Santa Rosa City, and Emilio Aguinaldo College are in Pool D.
In the women’s division, two-time reigning NCAA champion, College of Saint Benilde, leads Pool A with Volida Volleyball Club, UP Volleyball Club, and Parañaque City.
Pool B will the Philippine Airforce, JRU, Davao City, and Tacloban City-EV, while Pool C consists of Arellano, Letran, University of Batangas, and RTU-Basilan. Completing the fray are the University of the Philippines, San Beda, Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, and La Salle-Dasma in Pool D.
St. Benilde and Parañaque will open the hostilities at 8 a.m. on Tuesday in the women’s play, followed by the matches of RTU against Letran and La Salle-Dasmarinas against San Beda at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.
In the afternoon games, Cignal will begin its campaign against Savouge Aesthetics at 2 p.m., and NU will take on RTU at 4 p.m., with UST and Sta. Rosa wrapping up the six-game opener at 6 p.m.
The Challenge Cup is the PNVF’s Champions League with a new name. The tournament was first staged in Lipa City in 2021, with F2 Logistics winning the women’s title and Team Dasma Monarchs ruling the men’s contest.
All teams will compete in a single-round robin format within their pools, with only the top two teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship will be played in a knockout format to determine the first champion of the PNVF Challenge Cup.
