Men’s volleyball take center stage beginning Friday as the Spikers’ Turf stages its inaugural Invitational Conference at the Paco Arena in Manila featuring 24 teams, matching the biggest conference cast ever put up in the country’s premier league.
Cignal HD, which completed a perfect title run in the Open Conference last March, headlines the huge field divided into four groups with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the knockout quarterfinal phase.
The semifinalists will be joined by a foreign guest team in a round-robin series, which the organizing Sports Vision sees to be a thriller of a chase to the finals and the championship, a winner-take-all affair.
Joining the HD Spikers in Pool C are Davies Paints-Adamson, Philippine Coast Guard, Saints and Lattes-Letran, Santa Rosa City Lions and the St. Gerard Construction-Saint Benide.
Ateneo-Fudgee Bar banners the Pool A cast that includes D’Navigators Iloilo, Don Pacundo-La Salle-Dasmariñas, Kinto-Perpetual Help, Philippine Army and Sta. Elena-National U, while Cabstars-City of Cabuyao headlines the Pool B group, along with EcoOil-La Salle MKA-San Beda, Philippine Air Force, Saskin-Philippine Christian U and VNS Griffins.
Making up Pool D are the Alpha Omega Elite Spikers, Chef on a Diet-Far Eastern University, PGJC Navy, Savouge RTU Basilan, Bayleaf Spikers and the Xentromall-Emilio Aguinaldo College.
Spiker's Turf games can be streamed live on SpikersTurf.ph and Pilipinas Live and telecast on OneSports and OneSportsPlus.
EcoOil and VNS kick off hostilities at 3:30 p.m. Saturday with Fudgee Barr and Don Pacundo tangling in the 5:30 p.m. main game of the tournament that equaled the 24-team cast that vied in the 2019 Open Conference.
A busy sked will precede the opener as four matches are slated on Sunday, including the Chef on a Diet-Navy clash at 11 a.m. to be followed by the D’Navigators-Army collision at 1 p.m., the Saskin-Air Force duel at 3 p.m. and the Coast Guard-Davies Paints face-off at 5 p.m.
Wednesday’s matches pit the Saints and Lattes-Santa Rosa at 11 p.m., the Sta. Elena-Kinto Tyres at 1 p.m., the Cabstars-Mika at 3 p.m. and the Savouge-Bayleaf at 5 p.m.
Spikers' Turf Open Conference 2023 Team Standings
| Rank | Team | WIN | LOSS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEMIFINAL ROUND | ||||
| 1 | Cignal HD Spikers (GOLD) | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | AMC-Cotabato Spikers (SILVER) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | D' Navigators Iloilo | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | City of Imus (BRONZE) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rank | Team | WIN | LOSS | POINTS |
| PRELIMINARY ROUND | ||||
| 1 | Cignal HD Spikers** | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | AMC-Cotabato Spikers** | 9 | 1 | 27 |
| 3 | D' Navigators Iloilo** | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| 4 | City of Imus** | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| 5 | VNS | Volleyball Never Stops (x) | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | PGJC Navy (x) | 5 | 5 | 17 |
| 7 | Santa Rosa City (x) | 4 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | Philippine Army Troopers (x) | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| 9 | Philippine Air Force (x) | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| 10 | NU - Archipelago Builders (x) | 1 | 9 | 7 |
| 11 | Vanguard Volleyball Team (x) | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| (**) qualified for the semifinals | ||||
| (x) out of semis contention / eliminated | ||||