Est Cola saved its best for last.

After dropping its opening game, the Thai club stormed through the rest of the tournament, closing out a five-game winning streak with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of Nxled in the gold medal match of the 2026-2027 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The victory made Est Cola only the second foreign guest team to capture a PVL championship, following Japan’s Kurashiki Ablaze, which won the 2023 Invitational Conference.

Unlike their marathon preliminary-round encounter, EST Cola left little room for drama in the final. The Thais imposed their pace from the start and never allowed the Chameleons to force another five-set battle.

Young spiker Papatchaya Phontham also made history by becoming the first-ever PVL Most Valuable Player from a guest team.

Papatchaya, who also won the Best Opposite Spiker award, blasted 14 of her 15 points on kills to lead the Thais. 

“When we lost 3-1 (to PLDT), it felt like we had just started adjusting and tuning things. We had only just begun — it was the first match. We gave our teammates the chance to understand, then we talked it over, used it in training, and adjusted together. We performed well and won the championship,” the 20-year-old hitter said.

EST Cola previously needed a stunning comeback to overcome Nxled, 26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 30-28, 15-12, in their preliminary-round meeting last Thursday.

Moonjakham Nannaphat added 11 markers while Wasan Nattharika and Srikuta Nirarach added nine and seven markers, respectively, for the Thai squad.

Despite falling short in the championship, Nxled secured the silver medal—the franchise’s first podium finish since joining the PVL in 2023.

Jonah Sabete-Escamillan finished with 11 points and Myla Pablo had 10 for the Chameleons.