2026 Premier Volleyball League season
| 2026 Premier Volleyball League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Premier Volleyball League |
| Sport | Volleyball |
| Duration | January 31, 2026 – present |
The 2026 Premier Volleyball League season is the ninth season of the Premier Volleyball League and its sixth as a professional league. The season began on January 31, 2026 with the All-Filipino Conference. The 2026 Volleyball All-Star Showcase will be held in Candon, Ilocos Sur on May 1, where the league will host its first all-star match since 2019.[1][2]
This is the first professional season without the Chery Tiggo Crossovers and Petro Gazz Angels. Chery Tiggo announced its disbandment in December 2025 while Petro Gazz took a leave of absence in January 2026.[3][4]
The league is expected to introduce trades sometime after the All-Filipino Conference.[5]
Teams
| 2026 Premier Volleyball League season teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbr. | Team | Affiliation | Head coach | Team captain |
| AKA | Akari Chargers | Akari Lighting & Technology | Tina Salak | Justine Jazareno |
| CAP | Capital1 Solar Spikers | CapitalOne Energy Corp. | Jorge de Brito | Roma Mae Doromal |
| CMF | Choco Mucho Flying Titans | Republic Biscuit Corporation | Dante Alinsunurin | Desiree Cheng |
| CSS | Cignal Super Spikers | Cignal TV, Inc. | Shaq Delos Santos | Gel Cayuna |
| CCS | Creamline Cool Smashers | Republic Biscuit Corporation | Sherwin Meneses | Alyssa Valdez |
| FFF | Farm Fresh Foxies | Farm Fresh Philippine International / Strong Group Athletics | Koji Tsuzurabara | Louie Romero |
| GTH | Galeries Tower Highrisers | Grand Taipan Land Development | Aying Esteban | Julia Coronel |
| NXL | Nxled Chameleons | Akari Lighting & Technology | Ettore Guidetti | Brooke Van Sickle |
| HSH | PLDT High Speed Hitters | PLDT Inc. | Rald Ricafort | Kath Arado |
| ZUS | Zus Coffee Thunderbelles | Zuspresso Sdn. Bhd. / Strong Group Athletics | Jerry Yee | Cloanne Mondoñedo |
Transactions
Coaching changes
| Team | Outgoing | Incoming |
|---|---|---|
| Farm Fresh Foxies | Alessandro Lodi | Koji Tsuzurabara |
| Galeries Tower Highrisers | Godfrey Okumu | Clarence Esteban |
- On December 4, 2025, Alessandro Lodi stepped down as Farm Fresh Foxies head coach.[6]
- On January 8, 2026, Clarence Esteban was appointed as Galeries Tower Highrisers head coach, replacing Godfrey Okumu.[7]
- On January 9, 2026, Koji Tsuzurabara was appointed by Strong Group Athletics as a head coach. On the same day, he was assigned to the Farm Fresh Foxies, replacing Alessandro Lodi.[8]
Retirement
- On November 18, 2025, May Luna-Lumahan announced her retirement from professional volleyball. Since joining the PVL in 2021, she played for the Cignal HD Spikers, Chery Tiggo Crossovers, Foton Tornadoes and Nxled Chameleons.[9]
- On January 8, 2026, Rhea Dimaculangan-Villarete announced her retirement from professional volleyball. Since joining the PVL in 2021, she played for the PLDT High Speed Hitters and Creamline Cool Smashers.[10]
Notable moves
- On December 2, 2025, all Chery Tiggo EV Crossovers players were released following the team's disbandment, including team captain Aby Maraño.[11]
- On January 1, 2026, Eya Laure returned to the PVL after being absent throughout the entire 2024–25 season. She signed with the Choco Mucho Flying Titans.[12]
- On January 4, 2026, Chie Saet left the Petro Gazz Angels after a seven-year stint with the team after signing with the Strong Group Athletics organization. She will be assigned to one of the organization's teams.[13]
- On January 5, 2026, Petro Gazz captain Remy Palma left the team after four years after signing with Strong Group Athletics. She will also become the assistant coach for whichever team she is assigned to.[14]
- On January 9, 2026, the Galeries Tower Highrisers released a majority of its roster and coaching staff as part of the team's rebuild.
- On January 10, 2026, all Petro Gazz Angels players were released as the team took a leave of absence, including star players Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, and Myla Pablo.[4]
- On January 13, 2026, former Chery Tiggo captain Maraño signed with the Nxled Chameleons.[15]
- On January 15, 2026, former Petro Gazz star players Van Sickle, Phillips, and Pablo all signed with Nxled.[16]
- On January 26, 2026, Rachel Daquis left the Farm Fresh Foxies after a one-year stint with the team after signing with the Foxies sister team Zus Coffee Thunderbelles. Daquis' signing with the Thunderbelles also set the stage for the long-awaited reunion of the celebrated "GonzaQuis" duo with Zus Coffee mainstay Jovelyn Gonzaga.[17]
All-Filipino Conference
The first conference of the season will be the All-Filipino Conference which is set to begin on January 31, 2026.[5]
Preliminary round
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PLDT High Speed Hitters | 9 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 11 | 2.000 | 769 | 698 | 1.102 | Qualifying round |
| 2 | Cignal Super Spikers | 9 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 22 | 11 | 2.000 | 772 | 687 | 1.124 | |
| 3 | Creamline Cool Smashers | 9 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 1.250 | 700 | 662 | 1.057 | |
| 4 | Farm Fresh Foxies | 9 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 22 | 16 | 1.375 | 850 | 771 | 1.102 | |
| 5 | Nxled Chameleons | 9 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 20 | 16 | 1.250 | 810 | 773 | 1.048 | Play-in tournament semifinals |
| 6 | Akari Chargers | 9 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 1.056 | 792 | 838 | 0.945 | |
| 7 | Choco Mucho Flying Titans | 9 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 1.000 | 828 | 826 | 1.002 | Play-in tournament quarterfinals |
| 8 | Capital1 Solar Spikers | 9 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 21 | 0.667 | 748 | 796 | 0.940 | |
| 9 | Galeries Tower Highrisers | 9 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 0.458 | 707 | 800 | 0.884 | |
| 10 | Zus Coffee Thunderbelles | 9 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 0.346 | 693 | 819 | 0.846 |
Source: Premier Volleyball League
All-Star Game
The league will host an all-star game on May 1 after the All-Filipino Conference, their first since 2019. The event will be part of the greater 2026 Volleyball All-Star Showcase in Candon, Ilocos Sur, which the league will co-host together with Spikers' Turf.
Draft
The 2026 Premier Volleyball League draft is scheduled to be held.
There were proposals for the Philippine national team to take part in the draft and get first pick to select players for the national team pool. Selected players cannot play for another club within a two year period.[18] This proposal was later changed with the national team will approach to invite players instead to make an exclusive commitment to the national team.[19]
Conference results
| Conference | Champion | Runner-up | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Filipino | TBD | |||||||||
Notable events
Off-season
- On December 2, 2025, the Chery Tiggo Crossovers disbanded after five seasons in the league and thirteen years dating back to the original Foton Tornadoes.[3]
- Beginning with this season, the PVL will set aside 30 percent of the league's annual revenue to be divided among member teams. The remaining 70 percent will be used to cover operating expenses. This revenue-sharing model is similar to those of the Philippine Basketball Association and collegiate leagues like the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.[20]
- On January 7, 2026, the league ruled out a potential merger between the Petro Gazz Angels and Nxled Chameleons.[21]
- On January 10, 2026, the Petro Gazz Angels took a leave of absence after seven seasons in the league.[4]
References
- ^ "Candon City to host return of Volleyball All-Star event". Retrieved March 17, 2026.
- ^ "Voting opens for Volleyball All-Star Showcase". Retrieved March 17, 2026.
- ^ a b Villar, Joey (December 2, 2025). "Chery Tiggo Crossovers disband". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
- ^ a b c Garcia, John Mark (January 10, 2026). "BVS, Phillips now free agents as Petro Gazz goes on LOA". SPIN.ph. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
- ^ a b Agcaoili, Lance (December 4, 2025). "After year of parity, PVL looks to further evolve". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
The guidelines won't be ready for January's 2026 All-Filipino, but Malonzo hopes to implement them next season.
- ^ Demigillo, Kiko (December 4, 2025). "Alessandro Lodi parts ways with Farm Fresh Foxies after seven-month PVL coaching stint". One Sports. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (January 8, 2026). "PVL: Coach Aying Esteban to lead Galeries Tower rebuild". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ^ Dannug, Jonash (January 9, 2026). "Koji Tsuzurabara returns to PVL with Strong Group". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (November 22, 2025). "May Luna-Lumahan, UAAP champion with La Salle, retires from volleyball". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
- ^ Garcia, John Mark (January 8, 2026). "DMAC reaches end of legendary 26-year volleyball journey". SPIN.ph. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ Garcia, John Mark (December 2, 2025). "'Heartbroken' Maraño unsure on future after Chery disbandment". SPIN.ph. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ^ Demigillo, Kiko (January 1, 2026). "Eya Laure marks PVL return with blockbuster move to Choco Mucho". One Sports. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (January 4, 2026). "PVL: Veteran setter Chie Saet brings experience to SGA". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
- ^ Garcia, John Mark (January 5, 2026). "Remy Palma moves to SGA stable in playing-assistant coach role". SPIN.ph. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ^ Demigillo, Kiko (January 13, 2026). "Aby Maraño links up with Nxled as Chameleons continue to bolster PVL roster". OneSports. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (January 15, 2026). "PVL: Nxled lands Petro Gazz core led by Brooke Van Sickle". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Garcia, John Mark (January 26, 2026). "Rachel Daquis signs with Zus Coffee after Farm Fresh stint". SPIN.ph. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (February 24, 2026). "PNVF asks PVL about possibly owning rights to top draft pick". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
- ^ Naredo, Camille (March 14, 2026). "Alas stakeholder airs concerns over PVL Draft, calendar alignment with FIVB". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
- ^ Castillo, Musong R. (January 3, 2026). "For the first time, PVL teams will get dividends at the end of 2026 season". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 3, 2026.
- ^ Agcaoili, Lance (January 7, 2026). "PVL rules out Petro Gazz-Nxled merger, awaits Angels' decision". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 7, 2026.