The 2023 season of India’s Prime Volleyball League will get underway with a game between Bengaluru Torpedoes and defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts on Saturday at 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC). It is the second season of the Asian country’s professional men’s league and the first to be streamed live on **VBTV** in its entirety. A spot at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship 2023 in India is also at stake.

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The match is the first of 28 matches in the PVL’s eight-team single round-robin regular season, which will determine the four semifinalists. Along with the semifinals and the final on March 4 and 5, the total number of games played will be 31.

The city of Bengaluru in southern India will host the first 10 fixtures, scheduled one a day through Saturday of next week and two on Sunday, February 12.

Hosts Bengaluru Torpedoes finished last season on a 3-3 win-loss record in fifth place, just short of making the semifinals and will be eager to make up for it this season. Their ambitious squad will be headlined by two foreign players, 25-year-old Bulgarian outside hitter Tsvetelin Tsvetanov and 24-year-old Iranian opposite Alireza Abalooch, and coached by former American international David Lee, who competed in the PVL last season as a Calicut Heroes player.

With 2022 champions Kolkata Thunderbolts as their first opponents, the Torpedoes will have a challenging start to the new season. The Thunderbolts finished the 2022 regular season in second place on 4-2, and went on to shut out Calicut Heroes in the semifinals and Ahmedabad Defenders in the final to snatch the title. This season, their team will feature 32-year-old Venezuelan international middle blocker and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Jose Verdi, as well as 29-year-old American outside Cody Caldwell.

Prime Volleyball League rookies the Mumbai Meteors, with Cuba’s Hiroshi Centelles and USA’s Brandon Greenway on their roster, will make their debut on Sunday with a game against last year’s semifinalists Calicut Heroes, who also have a Cuban, Jose Antonio Sandoval Rojas, and an American, Matt Hilling, as the foreign players on their squad.

2022 silver medallists Ahmedabad Defenders will start their 2023 campaign on Monday. American universal Andrew Kohut, Iranian middle Danial Moatazedi and their teammates will take on 2022 semifinalists Hyderabad Black Hawks, starring Australian international Trent O'Dea and Colombia’s Carlos Andres Llanos Zamora.

The last two teams to get into action, Kochi Blue Spikers and Chennai Blitz will meet on Tuesday. The team from Kochi is headlined by two South Americans, Brazil’s Valter da Cruz Neto and Peru’s Eduardo Romay, while the squad from Chennai is led by Moyo Audran of Cameroon and Renato Mendes of Brazil.

Prime Volleyball League first leg schedule in Bengaluru:

Feb 4, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Bengaluru Torpedoes v Kolkata Thunderbolts

Feb 5, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Mumbai Meteors v Calicut Heroes

Feb 6, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Ahmedabad Defenders v Hyderabad Blackhawks

Feb 7, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Kochi Blue Spikers v Chennai Blitz

Feb 8, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Kolkata Thunderbolts v Hyderabad Blackhawks

Feb 9, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Ahmedabad Defenders v Bengaluru Torpedoes

Feb 10, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Chennai Blitz v Mumbai Meteors

Feb 11, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Calicut Heroes v Hyderabad Blackhawks

Feb 12, 19:00 local time (13:30 UTC): Mumbai Meteors v Bengaluru Torpedoes

Feb 12, 21:30 local time (16:00 UTC): Kolkata Thunderbolts v Kochi Blue Spikers

Prime Volleyball League 2023 full schedule

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