Nxled Chameleons is heading to the PVL Invitational Finals, and a wild Sunday-night result made it happen. PLDT stunned Creamline in five sets at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, handing the Chameleons the second Finals berth on a tiebreak and setting up a Tuesday title showdown against Thailand’s EST Cola.
The Finals matchup is set
EST Cola formalized its spot first with a straight-sets sweep of Ho Chi Minh City, closing the round-robin on top at 4-1. Nxled, Creamline and PLDT all finished 3-2, but the Chameleons claimed the second championship slot on FIVB tiebreak points (10), ahead of Creamline (9) and the High Speed Hitters (8).
The one-game title match between EST Cola and Nxled is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Araneta. The tiebreak is a fitting finish to an Invitational the league itself kept calling unpredictable: two guest teams pushed the chase to the final Sunday.
How PLDT decided it
With nothing left to gain in the standings, PLDT played spoiler anyway. The High Speed Hitters outlasted Creamline, 25-17, 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12, in a two-hour, 23-minute marathon, denying the Cool Smashers a return trip to the Finals. Had Creamline won, it would have booked a rematch with EST Cola instead.
PLDT leaned on a career-high 37 points from Savi Davison, who finished the decider with a clever drop ball. Jovie Prado added a triple-double of 14 points, 11 digs and 14 receptions to take Best Player honors, with Kim Dy (14), Mika Reyes (11) and Majoy Baron (8) chipping in. Jaja Minowa led Creamline with 25 points, Jema Galanza added 20 and Michele Gumabao 11.
What is left to play for
| Matchup | Time (Tuesday) |
| Farm Fresh vs Ho Chi Minh (5th place) | 1:30 p.m. |
| PLDT vs Creamline (3rd place) | 4:00 p.m. |
| EST Cola vs Nxled (Finals) | 6:30 p.m. |
All three placement matches cap a PVL Invitational that opened the league’s 10th season in Cebu before moving to Araneta. Nxled’s Finals run follows a roller-coaster campaign that opened with a four-set loss to Creamline, while EST Cola earlier ended the Cool Smashers’ unbeaten run to emerge as the team to beat.
