Youthful exuberance meets veteran savvy when EST Cola and Nxled collide for the PVL Invitational championship – a Finals showdown few saw coming, except perhaps the protagonists themselves.
The young Thais and the veteran-laden Chameleons forged their unlikely paths through a wild, topsy-turvy week of action, where fortunes swung like a pendulum and predictions often amounted to little more than guesses.
Now, they get one game to settle it all.
EST Cola and Nxled dispute the championship at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with the title at stake and validation – or redemption – waiting at the finish line.
And they arrived at this unexpected destination in vastly different ways.
EST Cola dropped its opening game and was quickly written off, its youth and inexperience seemingly no match for a field loaded with powerhouse rosters.
The Thais responded by making all those early doubts look premature.
They swept their final four games, knocking off top-ranked teams along the way, and stormed into the Finals as the first team to secure a berth.
Nxled also stumbled out of the gate, but unlike EST Cola, the Chameleons needed a little outside help to complete their improbable march to the championship game.
That help came from PLDT.
The High Speed Hitters eliminated the Creamline Cool Smashers from contention with a stunning victory Sunday, allowing Nxled to squeeze through the tiebreak maze and claim the second Finals berth.
Creamline’s failure to advance – after winning its first three matches – ranked among the tournament’s biggest surprises, right alongside EST Cola’s stunning rise. Nxled then edged Creamline and PLDT in the tiebreak equation to add another layer of intrigue to a Finals pairing that few would have predicted at the start of the tournament.
But that, after all, is the beauty of the PVL Invitational.
It promised a wild finish – and delivered one.
Tuesday’s championship clash is also a rematch with unfinished business.
EST Cola wants to prove that its five-set stunner over Nxled last Thursday was no fluke. The Chameleons, meanwhile, are eager to erase the memory of letting a seemingly secure victory slip through their fingers.
Nxled led by a set and appeared firmly in control after building a commanding 20-12 advantage in the fourth. Just five points from victory, however, the Chameleons suddenly lost their grip as the young Thais unleashed a blistering comeback, forced a deciding set and rode their momentum all the way to a stunning victory over their more experienced rivals.
EST Cola now hopes to complete that breakthrough with the biggest prize of all.
The Thais have been powered by a potent young core led by Papatchaya Phontham, Nannaphat Moonjakham and Nirarach Srikuta. But Phontham, the tournament’s second-leading scorer after the elimination round with 97 points – including 84 attacks – refuses to reduce EST Cola’s success to three players.
She made that point emphatically, crediting the teammates who make every attack possible.
“I feel good, but I have to give credit to everyone on the team. If we didn’t have our receivers and our setter, I wouldn’t have been able to attack and score. Everyone contributes to the team. It’s all about teamwork,” said Phontham.
Only PLDT’s Savi Davison, with 135 points built around 120 spikes, has scored more. Davison erupted for a career-high 37 points in PLDT’s upset of Creamline on Sunday.
And while EST Cola is built around Thailand’s Under-21 squad, Phontham brings something else to the youthful lineup: experience against senior-level competition.
Having played for Thailand’s senior national team, the young star believes that exposure can help steady the Thais when the pressure peaks.
She knows, however, that experience only matters if it can be translated into something bigger than individual brilliance.
“I have experience from playing with the senior national team, and I’ll try to use whatever experience I gained there to help the team, whether I can contribute a lot or a little,” she said.
Phontham was even more emphatic when asked about the importance of collective effort, stressing that no individual – no matter how gifted – can win a championship alone.
“No matter what, a team is a team. I can’t play by myself. We have to play together as a team. Even if I can help a lot or only a little, if it were just me alone, then it wouldn’t be a team,” she said.
Nxled, meanwhile, brings the other side of the equation: experience.
The Chameleons may be newcomers to the PVL Finals, but their roster is anything but unfamiliar with championship pressure. At the center of that veteran presence is captain Myla Pablo, a five-time champion in the V-League/PVL era.
For Pablo, reaching the Finals for the first time with Nxled is especially satisfying after a grueling week in which teams had little time to recover before plunging into another battle.
“Well, I’m super happy, syempre, first time naming mag-finals with Nxled. You can see naman, lahat ng teams pagod din talaga and every day ‘yung games,” said Pablo.
Pablo saw firsthand just how taxing the schedule had become, watching from the stands as PLDT and Creamline fought for the result that would ultimately determine Nxled’s fate.
With bodies tiring and recovery time shrinking, she believes conditioning and stamina could be just as important as tactics in Tuesday’s title match.
“Physically, pagod din talaga kaya sabi namin kung ano ‘yung magiging resulta ng game ng Creamline and PLDT, kailangan paghandaan pa rin talaga namin sa Tuesday,” she said.
For Pablo, the answer is simple: execute, communicate and trust the roles that brought Nxled this far.
“I think ‘yung kailangan talaga naming gawin this Tuesday is ibigay namin ‘yung best namin. ‘Yung communication ng bawat isa, and ‘yung roles namin sa loob ng court, kailangan ma-apply namin,” she added.
She also had nothing but gratitude for PLDT, whose victory over Creamline opened the door for Nxled’s Finals breakthrough.
Pablo admitted she watched the result nervously, knowing the Chameleons’ fate was hanging in the balance.
“Actually, kinabahan ako. Sabi ko kung ano ‘yung magiging resulta nito, I’m super proud kay coach Rald (Ricafort) and the PLDT players, kahit na matalo sila. Pero ayun nga, nanalo sila against Creamline, so I’m super happy and sana sa bronze makuha nila ng Tuesday,” said Pablo.
The Chameleons’ rapid adjustment to one another has also been a key to their unexpected run, particularly with veterans Gel Cayuna and Jackie Acuña joining the mix.
Pablo said the chemistry came together faster than expected, helped by a group that understood what it takes to navigate pressure-filled matches.
“Sobrang hirap din talaga kasi may dalawa kaming kasama na sila Gel (Cayuna) and Jackie (Acuña), pero as you can see naman, hindi rin naman kami nahirapan sa kanila. Ang bilis din talaga naming makuha ‘yung connection ng bawat isa. Syempre, hindi rin kami nahirapan kasi ‘yung mga kasama namin veteran din talaga. So I’m really happy din talaga na nakapag-finals kami sa Invitational,” she said.
Now the veteran Chameleons face a young Thai side playing with fire and fearlessness that comes with having little to lose and plenty to prove.
Pablo knows EST Cola’s youth gives it energy. But she believes Nxled’s experience can provide the composure needed when the championship is within reach.
“Yung Thailand kasi mga bata pa ‘yan eh, so ganado pa maglaro, hindi pa napapagod talaga. Kami naman, as a veteran team, kailangan talaga namin ibigay ‘yung best namin sa loob ng court. Laruin lang talaga namin, kumbaga, kung ano ‘yung sasabihin ng mga coaches namin, papakinggan lang namin,” she said.
EST Cola has already proved it can knock Nxled off its stride. Nxled now gets its chance to answer – with the championship on the line.
Before the title is decided, PLDT and Creamline meet in a grudge match of sorts at 4 p.m. for the bronze medal, while Farm Fresh and Ho Chi Minh battle for fifth place at 1:30 p.m.
But all eyes eventually turn to the main event.
One game. One crown. And two teams that have already defied expectations just to get there.
