The 2018 Philippine Super Liga Invitational Cup (also known as the 2018 Chooks-to-Go Philippine Super Liga Invitational Cup due to sponsorship reasons) was the second conference of the 2018 season of the Philippine Super Liga (PSL) and the fourth running of the Invitational Cup. The tournament ran from June 23 to July 28, 2018. As with the 2017 Invitational, the tournament used an all-to-play format to give playing time for every player in each team.
Alongside the eight member teams, two new squads join the fold in this conference. Those teams were the UP Lady Fighting Maroons and the returning Cherrylume Iron Lady Warriors.
The F2 Logistics Cargo Movers and Petron Blaze Spikers contested the championship for the fourth conference in a row. It was F2 Logistics who defeated their rivals to win their third championship.
Teams
Abbr. Team Affiliation Head coach Team captain CIG Cignal HD Spikers Cignal TV, Inc. Edgar Barroga Rachel Daquis CCL Cocolife Asset Managers United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation Moro Branislav Aerieal Patnogon FTL F2 Logistics Cargo Movers F2 Global Logistics Inc. Ramil de Jesus Cha Cruz-Behag FOT Foton Tornadoes Blue Energy United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. Edjet Mabbayad Maika Ortiz GAL Generika–Ayala Lifesavers Actimed, Inc. Sherwin Meneses Angeli Pauline Araneta PET Petron Blaze Spikers Petron Corporation Shaq delos Santos Frances Molina SMA Smart−Army Giga Hitters Smart Communications Kungfu Reyes Ging Balse SLR Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corporation George Pascua Pamela Lastimosa CHE Cherrylume Iron Lady Warriors University of the East / Mileage Asia Corporation Rodrigo Roque Lhara May Clavano UPU UP–United Auctioneers Lady Fighting Maroons University of the Philippines Diliman / United Auctioneers, Inc. Godfrey Okumu Ma. Arielle Estrañero
Format Preliminary round In the preliminary round, teams were split into two groups. The preliminary round was a single round-robin tournament, with each team playing one match against all other teams in their pool for a total of four matches. The top team in each pool earned a bye to the semifinals while teams ranked second and third started in the quarterfinals. The fourth-place teams would play in the seventh-place match while the fifth-place teams would play in the ninth-place match.
Quarterfinals The quarterfinals featured single-elimination matches. The match-ups were as follows: QF1: A2 vs. B3 QF2: B2 vs. A3 The winners advanced to the semifinals while the losers would play in the fifth-place match.
Classification matches The fifth-place, seventh-place, and ninth-place matches were all single-elimination. The match-ups were as follows: Fifth-place match: Quarterfinal round losers Seventh-place match: A4 vs. B4 Ninth-place match: A5 vs. B5
Semifinals The semifinals also featured single-elimination matches. The match-ups were as follows: SF1: A1 vs. QF2 winner SF2: A2 vs. QF1 winner The winners advanced to the championship match while the losers would play in the third-place match.
Finals The championship was a best-of-three series while the third-place match was single-elimination. The match-ups were as follows: Championship match: Semifinal round winners Third-place match: Semifinal round losers
Preliminary round
Group A
Group B
Playoffs
Quarterfinals
9th place
7th place
5th place
Semifinals
Bronze match
Finals
Final standing
RankTeam F2 Logistics Cargo Movers Petron Blaze Spikers Cignal HD Spikers 4 Smart–Army Giga Hitters 5 Generika–Ayala Lifesavers 6 Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors 7 Foton Tornadoes Blue Energy 8 UP - United Auctioneers Inc. Lady Maroons 9 UE - Cherrylume Iron Lady Warriors 10 Cocolife Asset Managers
2018 PSL Grand Prix Champions F2 Logistics Cargo Movers Team roster Charleen Abiegail Cruz-Behag (c). Dawn Macandili (libero), Abigail Maraño, Norielle Ipac, Victonara Galang, Ernestine Tiamzon, Kim Fajardo, Mary Joy Baron, Aduke Christine Ogunsanya, Kim Kianna Dy, Michelle Cobb, Michelle Katherine Morente, Desiree Cheng, Fritz Joy Gallenero (libero), Ramil de Jesus (head coach)
Individual awards Award Name/Team MVP Victonara Galang (F2 Logistics) Best Outside Spiker 1st: Rachel Daquis (Cignal) 2nd: Cherry Ann Rondina (Petron) Best Middle Blocker 1st: Mika Aereen Reyes (Petron) 2nd: Mary Joy Baron (F2 Logistics)Best Opposite Spiker Aiza Maizo-Pontillas (Petron)Best Setter Kim Fajardo (F2 Logistics) Best Libero Dawn Macandili (F2 Logistics)Best Scorer Patty Jane Orendain (Generika-Ayala)
Tune-up games with the Philippine national team The Philippines women's national volleyball team that will participate in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia on August 18–September 2, 2018 will be a guest team in the tournament. The team will play tune up games against some of the regular PSL teams. National players will play for their respective mother teams in games pitting the Philippine team against their mother team. Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado will not play for the national team in the PSL tune up games due to obligations with their mother team, the Creamline Cool Smashers in the ongoing 2018 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.
Venues Smart Araneta Coliseum (opening day) Filoil Flying V Arena (main venue) Cuneta Astrodome (secondary venue)
"Spike on Tour" Venues: Cadiz Arena (July 3) Muntinlupa Sports Complex (July 14, 21)
Broadcast partners ESPN 5: The 5 Network, AksyonTV, Hyper (SD and HD), ESPN5.com
References
External links