| Bicol Volcanoes | |
|---|---|
| League | MPBL |
| Founded | 2019 |
| History | Bicol Volcanoes (2019–present) |
| Arena | Ibalong Centrum for Recreation Albay Astrodome |
| Location | Legazpi, Albay |
| Team colors | |
| Head coach | Raymond Valenzona |
The Bicol Volcanoes are a Filipino professional basketball team based in the Bicol Region. The team currently competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's South Division. They are the lone team based in the Bicol Region and split their home games between the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation and the Albay Astrodome, both located in Legazpi, Albay. The team was founded as one of six expansion teams for the league's 2019–20 season. [1]
Founded in 2019, the Bicol franchise joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as an expansion team for its 2019–20 season. The franchise was originally going to named the Albay Volcanoes, [2] but changed its location identifier to Bicol to represent the entire region.
Led by ex-PBA cager Ronjay Buenafe, the Volcanoes finished with a 16–14 record, clinching the eighth seed in the playoffs. Bicol faced the first-seeded Davao Occidental Tigers in the First Round. The team won game 2 to tie the series, marking the first time that an 8-seed won a playoff game against a 1-seed. [3] Unfortunately, Bicol would lose the deciding game 3 in overtime. [4] Bicol was one of the 22 teams that took part in the 2021 Invitational. After finishing second place in Group B, the team would lose to Imus in the Quarterfinals. [5] [6]
After opting out of the 2022 season, the team returned for the succeeding 2023 season. The team would go on to win only one game in the 28-game season, which came against Mindoro in the 17th game. [7]
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| Bicol Volcanoes notable players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Tenure | Awards | All-Star |
| Ronjay Buenafe | 2019–2020 | — | 1 (2020) | |
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Finish | W | L | PCT | Stage | Results | |||
| Bicol Volcanoes | |||||||||
| 2019–20 Lakan Cup | South | 8th | 16 | 14 | .533 | First Round | lost vs. Davao Occidental, 1–2 | ||
| 2022 | Did not participate | ||||||||
| 2023 | South | 14th | 1 | 27 | .036 | Did not qualify | |||
| All-time regular season record | 17 | 41 | .293 | 1 playoff appearance | |||||
| All-time playoff record | 1 | 2 | .333 | 0 Finals appearances | |||||
| All-time overall record | 18 | 43 | .295 | 0 championships | |||||
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