Pro Volleyball League (PVL) was a professional men's indoor volleyball league in India. The inaugural season took place in February 2019. The league was an initiative between the Volleyball Federation of India, Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd. and Baseline Ventures. The inaugural season of the league was won by the Chennai Spartans. In June 2022, the league was rebranded as Prime Volleyball League.
Structure The Pro Volleyball League encompassed six franchises, representing cities across India. All teams filed tenders with Baseline Ventures, listing the two cities they would be interested in bidding for. The teams were officially announced at a press conference in Mumbai.
Teams
City Team name International players Team owner Ahmedabad Ahmedabad Defenders Novica Bjelica and Victor Sysoev Bonhomie Sports Event Management Limited Kozhikode Calicut Heroes Paul Lotman and Iluoni Ngampourou Beacon Sports Chennai Chennai Spartans Rudy Verhoeff and Ruslans Sorokins Chennai Spartans Sports Private Limited Hyderabad Black Hawks Hyderabad Carson Clark and Alexander Bader Agile Entertainment Private Limited Kochi Kochi Blue Spikers David Lee and Andrej Patuc Thomas Muthoot Mumbai U Mumba Volley Tomislav Coskovic and Nicholas Del Bianco U Sports
Format Each team will have 12 players with a maximum of two reserve players. All teams have a salary purse of lakhs from which they pick their team via an auction and player draft. Players are divided into five categories – International Icons, Indian Icons, Sr. Indian Internationals, Nationals, and U-21 players. The International Icon players are picked through a draft process while the Indian players are chosen via an auction. Ranjit Singh of Punjab emerged as the top pick in Season 1. Ahmedabad Defenders shelled out lakhs for him at the auction.
There were a total of 18 matches in Season 1. Each team plays against each other in a round-robin format with the top 4 teams moving into the Semi-Finals. In Season 1, matches were held in Kochi at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium and in Chennai at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Season 1
The first season started on 2 February 2019 and concluded on 22 February 2019.
Fixtures Date Venue Phase Fixture Winner Result Man of the match02-Feb-19Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, KochiMatchday 1 - Round RobinKochi Blue Spikers Vs U Mumba VolleyKochi4-1Mohan Ukkrapandian03-Feb-19Matchday 2 - Round RobinCalicut Heroes Vs Chennai SpartansCalicut4-1Ajith Lal C04-Feb-19Matchday 3 - Round RobinAhmedabad Defenders Vs Blackhawks HyderabadHyderabad2-3Carson Clark05-Feb-19Matchday 4 - Round RobinCalicut Heroes Vs U Mumba VolleyCalicut3-2Saqlain Tariq06-Feb-19Matchday 5 - Round RobinKochi Blue Spikers Vs Ahmedabad DefendersKochi3-2Mohan Ukkrapandian07-Feb-19Matchday 6 - Round RobinChennai Spartans Vs Blackhawks HyderabadChennai4-1Naveen Raja Jacob08-Feb-19Matchday 7 - Round RobinKochi Blue Spikers Vs Blackhawks HyderabadKochi3-2David Lee09-Feb-19Matchday 8 - Round RobinKochi Blue Spikers Vs Calicut HeroesCalicut0-5Paul Lotman10-Feb-19Matchday 9 - Round RobinCalicut Heroes Vs Blackhawks HyderabadCalicut3-2Kamlesh Khatik11-Feb-19Matchday 10 - Round RobinKochi Blue Spikers Vs Chennai SpartansKochi3-2David Lee12-Feb-19Matchday 11 - Round RobinU Mumba Volley Vs Blackhawks HyderabadHyderabad2-3Carson Clark13-Feb-19Matchday 12 - Round RobinCalicut Heroes Vs Ahmedabad DefendersCalicut 4-1Paul Lotman16-Feb-19Nehru Indoor Stadium, ChennaiMatchday 13 - Round RobinChennai Spartans Vs U Mumba VolleyMumbai2-3Deepesh Sinha17-Feb-19Matchday 14 - Round RobinChennai Spartans Vs Ahmedabad DefendersChennai4-1Rudy Verhoeff18-Feb-19Matchday 15 - Round RobinU Mumba Volley Vs Ahmedabad DefendersMumbai4-1Vinit Kumar19-Feb-19Matchday 16 - Semi Final 1 Calicut Heroes Vs U Mumba VolleyCalicut 3-0Jerome Vinith20-Feb-19Matchday 17 - Semi Final 2Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Chennai SpartansChennai2-3Ruslans Sorokin22-Feb-19Matchday 18 - FinalCalicut Heroes Vs Chennai SpartansChennai0-3Naveen Raja Jacob
See also Prime Volleyball League Indian Volley League
References