TEAMS competing in the Shakey’s V-League will be playing for more than just pride as the champion squad will get to represent the country’s colors in the Shakey’s Invitational tentatively set in November.
Six teams will slug it out in the six-week tournament, which will follow a double round robin elimination format with the top four advancing to the crossover semis.
The No. 1 team will then take on No. 4 and the Nos. 2 and 3 squads will dispute the other finals berth in a pair of best-of-three series. The finals will also be a best-of-three affair.
Philippine Army, which beat San Sebastian College to annex the inaugural Shakey’s V-League Open crown last year, heads the compact roster that includes Ateneo, Philippine Navy, Cagayan Province, Far Eastern U and Sandugo Sandals.
Sandugo, a team bannered by two Thai imports and handled by former Ateneo champion coach Roger Gorayeb, has been installed as the early favorite owing to its star-studded roster headed by former San Sebastian College resident import Jeng Bualee and Shakey’s V-League veteran Utaiwan Kaensing. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio