Nxled staved off a spirited third set fight from Galeries Tower to complete a 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 sweep and move on to the final phase of the 2026 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Play-in tournament Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Relying on its battle-tested composure and experienced champion core, the Chameleons rallied from a 21-23 deficit in the third set with a closing 4-0 run to stay alive in the hunt for a round robin semifinals seat.
Nxled will face Farm Fresh in another knockout match on 7 April at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Chameleons picked the perfect time to exact revenge over the same team that defeated them in the preliminary round.
“This is a conference, where there is a lot of alchemy — and it’s a strange one. And for us to play against Galeries. It’s difficult because they serve really good, and they have a good block. Very difficult since every time we raced a point, they showed toughness,” Nxled head coach Ettore Guidetti said.
“We already lost one time. Today was a tough match. Maybe not the second set, but the other sets they gave it really tough. At the end of the day, we won 3-0, and we’re stepping to the next part of the conference,” Guidetti added.
MJ Phillips showed the way for the Chameleons with a game-high 17 points she collected from 13 kills, three kill blocks and an ace.
Three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Brooke Van Sickle added 14 points on 12 attacks and two kill blocks with her last over former teammate Aiza Maizo-Pontillas iced the one-hour, 41-minute encounter.
Former MVP Myla Pablo had 10 points for the Chameleons, who are composed of the core of last year’s champion and on a leave of absence Petro Gazz.
The Highrisers got within two points of claiming the third set after an Erika Deloria kill, 23-21, but Nxled fired back with four straight points.
“We saw the leadership and veteran smarts of each other inside the court. I guess we’re used to these situations. When Brooke was outside during our rotation we were telling each other that we can still recover (from out deficit in the third) while she’s out,” Pablo said.
“When we’re at the last one (point), we were telling ourselves that it’s already ours. We can’t let them take a set and allow them to gain [momentum].”
No. 9 seed Galeries Tower saw its fairytale run come to an end after eliminating Capital1 in four sets in the first phase of the stepladder format Play-in last Tuesday.
Deloria had 13 points, all from kills, with 14 excellent receptions and nine digs to lead the Highrisers. Jean Asis added 11 points while Roselle Baliton and Pontillas added nine and eight points, respectively.