Phontham Papatchaya of EST Cola made history on Tuesday night, becoming the Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) first-ever Most Valuable Player from a guest team.

The 20-year-old Phontham powered the Thai side to the 2026 PVL Invitational Conference championship after defeating the Nxled Chameleons in the gold medal match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

EST Cola became only the second guest team to win the tournament, following Kurashiki Ablaze’s championship run in 2023.

Papatchaya finished second in scoring after the preliminary round with 97 points on 84 attacks, seven aces, and six blocks. She was also the league’s third-most efficient spiker, converting at a 35.74 percent success rate.

She ranked fourth in service with an average of 0.37 aces per set, earning her the Best Opposite Spiker award as well.

“Oh, oh… I feel so happy because this is the second time we’ve come to compete here. On our first time, the team was OK but we ended up with a ranking that wasn’t very good,” Papatchaya said.

“But when we came back, we won the championship, and I also received individual awards, including MVP.”

Meanwhile, Jonah Sabete-Escamillan of Nxled and Savi Davison of PLDT were named the Best Outside Spikers.

Davison led all scorers after the preliminary round with 135 points while ranking second in spiking efficiency at 37.97 percent and sixth in blocks at 0.65 per set.

She also stood out on floor defense, ranking sixth in reception efficiency at 41.92 percent and seventh in digs at 3.00 per set.

Escamillan, meanwhile, amassed 84 points, good for fifth in the league. She also ranked fifth in both blocks at 0.65 per set and aces at 0.35 per set, while posting the third-best reception efficiency at 47.62 percent.

The award marked Davison’s third selection, while Escamillan earned her first-ever All-Premier Team recognition.

Creamline’s Jaja Santiago-Minowa and Nxled’s MJ Phillips were named the Best Middle Blockers.

Both players also made their presence felt offensively, with Minowa scoring 92 points for third in the league and Phillips tallying 79 for seventh.

Minowa, who claimed her second positional plum, led the league with 18 blocks, while Phillips, making her third All-Premier Team appearance, recorded 14 blocks.

Rounding out the awardees were Nxled’s Gel Cayuna, who won her sixth Best Setter award, and PLDT’s Kath Arado, who secured her seventh Best Libero selection.

Cayuna ranked third in setting at 5.50 assists per set while also finishing 30th in scoring with 27 points.

Arado, meanwhile, dominated the digging category, leading the league with a 5.70 average per set. The second-ranked player had just a 3.43 average.