AN EARLY showdown of heavyweights between Creamline and Chery Tiggo features a Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference opening day tripleheader on June 27 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Gunning for a second straight title this season, the Cool Smashers have added beach volleyball star Bernadeth Pons to their already stacked offensive firepower.

With the entry of college standouts Eya Laure, Imee Hernandez, Cess Robles, Joyme Cagande and Jen Nierva, the Crossovers are determined to become one of the elite teams in the league.

The Creamline-Chery Tiggo duel is set at 6:30 p.m. right after league debutant Farm Fresh and All-Filipino Conference third placers F2 Logistics open hostilities at 1:30 p.m., and Cignal and last conference’s runner-up PetroGazz take the floor at 4 p.m.

Creamline and Chery Tiggo headlines Group A, which also has PLDT, Akari, and Gerflor.

Aside from F2 Logistics, Cignal, Farm Fresh and PetroGazz, Group B also has Foton and Choco Mucho.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the round-robin semifinals, along with the two foreign teams. Teams from the same pool will carry over their head-to-head record into the second round.

The top two teams will advance to the winner-take-all gold medal match, while the third and fourth-ranked teams will compete for the bronze.

Those teams that do not advance to the next round will move to the classification phase. However, the sixth-placed squad in Pool B will automatically be ranked 13th.

Gerflor will make its debut against Creamline at 1:30 p.m. on June 29 at the same San Juan arena, to be followed by the Choco Mucho-Farm Fresh clash at 4 p.m. and the Foton-PetroGazz showdown at 6:30 p.m.

After the July 1 tripleheader, where PLDT and Akari will be finally make their conference debut at 1:30 p.m. at the Filoil EcoOil Centre, the league will take a 10-day break and will resume on July 11 with a loaded four-match fixture at the Philsports Arena.

Games June 27

(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
1:30 p.m. – Farm Fresh vs F2 Logistics
4 p.m. – Cignal vs PetroGazz
6:30 p.m. – Chery Tiggo vs Creamline