Nxled regains winning form

Games tomorrow:

(Philsports Arena)

4 p.m. — Galeries Tower vs Chery Tiggo

6 p.m. — Creamline vs PLDT

Nxled sizzled early before watching Capital1 crumble under pressure to book a 25-13, 25-23, 25-22 victory in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference yesterday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Camille Victoria took control in the crucial stretch while Ivy Lacsina was steady at the attack zone for the Chameleons, who regained their winning touch after 96 minutes of action.

Victoria, a former University of Santo Tomas Tigress, fired 14 attacks and three blocks to finish with 17 points while Lacsina chipped in 11 attacks for a 12-point performance to give the Chameleons their fourth win in 10 matches in the country’s top professional women’s volleyball league.

Victoria, however, brushed off the credit, saying that she just focused on the job given to her by head coach Taka Minowa of Japan.

“Whatever role coach Taka Minowa gives to me, I just focus on it,” said Victoria, whose squad is looking for a strong finish before formally bombing out of contention.

“We want this conference to be memorable. We give our best every game to give a good game to our opponents.”

Minowa said they are determined to go out with a bang by beating powerhouse Petro Gazz on Saturday at the Philsports Arena.

“We will just focus on our next game against Petro Gazz. This win will make up for our confidence heading to that match,” Minowa said, who made the right call of using Victoria as opposite spiker replacing Lycha Ebon.

“Lycha (Ebon) had some problems, so we used Camille as opposite hitter and she got the POG (Player of the Game) honors. We can make that as a choice again against Petro Gazz.”

After posting an easy 25-13 victory in the first set, the Chameleons flirted with disaster as the Solar Spikers intensified their attacks to open the second set with a 5-1 lead.

The Chameleons restored order and knotted the count at 17 before Victoria presided over a late-set rally with a flurry of attacks to seal the second-set victory, 25-23.

The Solar Spikers again came up with a strong start in the third set as they posted a nine-point lead early, 11-2. But Lacsina — the former National University star — took matters into her own hands by crushing the Capital1 defensive wall erected by Rovena Instrella and Lourdes Clemente en route to scoring Nxled’s last nine points.

“I was tense in the first two sets but my teammates and coaches calmed me down, telling me to just bring out my game to make me composed in the last set,” said Lacsina after the Chameleons dealt the Solar Spikers their ninth loss in 10 matches.