BY ABBY TORALBA
PRIZED imports are out to prove their worth in the PVL Reinforced Conference kicking off this Saturday at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.
Nine teams will do battle for the Open Conference crown in the tilt’s return after it was last played in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Creamline, 2019 Open Conference champion Petro Gazz, Cignal, PLDT, and Choco Mucho banner the field along with Chery Tiggo, United Auctioneers Army, new squad Akari, and returning F2 Logistics.
The High Speed Hitters face Army at 2:30 p.m. while the HD Spikers tangle with the debuting Power Chargers at 5:30.
PLDT tapped Russian reinforcement and hitter Elina Savkina-Samoilenko, while the Army Troopers recruited 5-foot-11 spiker Laura Condotta from Canada.
Cignal brought 6-foot-1 American spiker Tai Bierria, while Akari linked up with three-time Olympian Priscila from the Dominican Republic.
Turkish Yeliz Basa will banner Creamline, American Lindsey Vander Weide for Petro Gazz, Uzbekistani-Azerbaijani Odina Aliyeva for Choco Mucho, Jelena Cvijovic from Montenegro for Chery Tiggo and American Lindsay Stalzer returning for the Cargo Movers.
F2 faces Chery Tiggo, while Petro Gazz tackles Choco Mucho on Oct. 11 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
In the previous Reinforced Conference, Petro Gazz claimed the title, while the Cool Smashers and Army Troopers settled for silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Creamline’s skipper Alyssa Valdez was named Reinforced Conference MVP three years ago, while former Petro Gazz import Janisa Johnson and Wilma Salas were hailed as finals MVP and Best Foreign Guest Player, respectively.
