Terrific Thais: Est Cola clips Vietnamese, secures 1st PVL final ticket

Thailand’s Est Cola copped a championship seat after sweeping Vietnamese guest squad Ho Chi Minh City, 25-19, 26-24, 26-24, to close the preliminary round of the 2026-2027 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

Phontham Papatchaya led the Thais’ assault and delivered the crucial hits in the closing stretch of the tightly contested second and third frames as Est Cola strung four straight victories for a 4-1 win-loss record.

Papatchaya scored 21 points, including an efficient 19-of-45 attacking clip, while Moonjakham Nannaphat added 18 points on 13 kills, four aces and a kill block for Est Cola.

“I feel good, but I have to give credit to everyone on the team. If we didn’t have our receivers and our setter, I wouldn’t have been able to attack and score. Everyone contributes to the team. It’s all about teamwork,” said Papatchaya, who saw action for the Thai national team in this year’s Women’s Volleyball Nations competition.  

Srikuta Nirarach scored 12 while Saelao Natnicha tallied 18 excellent sets for Est Cola.

The Thais will face either Nxled or Creamline, which is still playing dethroned PLDT as of press time, in the winner-take-all final slated on Tuesday at the same Cubao venue.

Est Cola is the fourth foreign team to reach the finals and will try to become only the second guest club to win the crown after Japan’s Kurashiki Ablaze won it all in 2023.

The Thais had a hard time shaking off the Vietnamese behind the gritty plays of Dang Thi Kim Thanh and Nguyen Thi Nah Phuong especially in the third frame.

Ho Chi Minh City came back from a 22-24 deficit in the third and forced a deuce after an Est Cola attack error.

Wasan Nattharika answered with a kill before Nirarach’s finishing blow to seal the one-hour, 38-minute victory.

Dang had 14 points and Phuong finished with nine for Ho Chi Minh City, which suffered a fourth loss in five outings.

Meanwhile, Nxled did its part in its bid for a breakthrough championship appearance after beating Farm Fresh, 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, for a 3-2 slate.

MJ Phillips blasted 25 points on 19 attacks, four aces and two kill blocks while Jackie Acuna added 12 points for the Chameleons, who can snatch the last finals berth if the High Speed Hitters beat the Cool Smashers.

“Well, as I said to the girls, I’m really proud of the way we played this mini tournament. Really intense and I think that it’s clear to everyone that this is a fighting team. We fought against everyone. We didn’t lose a single set by a big score. We always try our best to bring the victory home. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we didn’t. But it has always, always been a fearsome battle for us,” Nxled coach Ettorre Guidetti said.

“So, I’m proud about this. Now we simply have to wait. What is going to happen doesn’t change anything for us. We’re going to fight anyway,” the Italian mentor added.

Jonah Sabete-Escamillan and Myla Pablo added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Chameleons.

The Foxies fell to a 1-4 slate and will take on Ho Chi Minh City in the classification match for fifth place.