THE long arm of Thailand volleyball power reaches the Philippines as its club team Est Cola overpowered Nxled, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19, on Tuesday to emerge as the PVL Invitational champion at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Thais were overpowering on this one as they had all the answers every time the Nxled Chameleons tried to turn the tide in their favor in squeezing out the relatively quick straight set win and snaring the championship over a field of four local clubs and one from Vietnam.
It capped what had been a strong performance for Est Cola despite falling right on its very first outing on local soil against last year’s titlist PLDT last Aug. 31.
From there, the young Thais were unstoppable, winning their last five assignments including this one that mattered most — the finale.
Est Cola also became the second guest squad to win this conference after Japan’s Kurashiki Ablaze did the trick three years ago.
Everybody thought the Chameleons, who made their finals appearance in franchise history, would give the Thais a fight after the two fought a pulsating five-set duel that the visiting squad eventually won.
But Est Cola never gave Nxled a chance and just utterly dominated their much-awaited rematch.
It was a proud moment for the Thais, whose national women’s team recently accomplished what was never done before by any Southeast Asian nation — qualify to the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.
It underscored Thailand’s domination in not just the region but the whole Asian continent as well.
Nxled, who was without its star player Brooke Van Sickle, who was out due to shoulder issues, however, has nothing to be ashamed of as this was its best finish since joining the league three years ago.
THIRD PLACECounting their blessings.
That was how the PLDT High Speed Hitters relished third place finish in the PVL Invitational by repeating over the Creamline Cool Smashers, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It wasn’t as big and glorious as claiming another title in this same conference the way the Manuel V. Pangilinan-owned franchise did last year but a second runner-up trophy that came at the expense of the 11-time league champion would suffice.
“We’re very happy for the last two conferences we managed to finish third,” said PLDT coach Rald Ricafort, whose other bronze effort came in the All-Filipino early this year.
PLDT beat Creamline, the reigning All-Filipino champion, not just once, but twice in the last three nights with the first one coming from a five-set thriller that denied it a trip to the finals.
On this one, the High Speed Hitters denied the Cool Smashers a 21st podium finish in 22 conferences.
Instead, Creamline remained with 20 trophies and handed its second-worst finish in franchise history since winding up sixth in the Reinforced last year.
It was made more painful that the Cool Smashers couldn’t maximize the presence of Sachi Minowa, who was with the team on a short leash as she leaves to play for a United States club team late this year.
And it was because PLDT decided to turn on the switch after missing out on a shot at a title defense after losing to Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City Volleyball Federation in the elimination round.
The Vietnamese ended up sixth and last after falling to the Farm Fresh Foxies, 25-10, 25-15, 25-15, in the battle for fifth spot.
Savi Davison spewed fire again, unleashing a match-high 29 points that came two days after detonating a career-high 37-point bomb in that epic five-set escape.
Jovie Prado was also an X factor as she scattered 12 hits, most of which came in the last two sets when PLDT fought from three-points down in stealing those sets and the match. — Joey Villar