Nxled demolishes Capital1

Games on Tuesday:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

1 p.m. — Farm Fresh vs PLDT

6 p.m. — ZUS Coffee vs Galeries Tower

Unbeaten Nxled turned an expected grind-out game into a lopsided affair with a sweep of Capital1, 25-13, 25-20, 25-18, to draw closer to a semifinals seat in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Season 10 All-Filipino Conference Siklab series on Saturday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Chameleons caught the Solar Spikers flat-footed and just overwhelmed them with relentless attacks, solid blocking and aggression to extend their winning streak to five.

Nxled tightened its grip at the top spot and boosted its chances of advancing to the next round with just three more outings left in its elimination round campaign.

“It’s done, so we think about the next one. The run is meant to be continuous. When you are running, you go when you are ready,” Chameleons head coach Ettore Guidetti said.

Brooke Van Sickle hammered 11 kills in a 13-point output to lead Nxled, which frustrated the volume-hitting Capital1 with 10 kill blocks.

MJ Phillips and Jackie Acuna anchored the Chameleons’ net defense with three kill blocks each while multi-awarded setter Gel Cayuna tallied 16 excellent sets as she orchestrated the squad’s balanced scoring.

Phillips got nine points, Acuna and Jonah Sabete-Escamillan added seven points each while Myla Pablo had four points punctuated by the match-clinching kill block over Solar Spikers’ prized winger Bella Belen.

“We just focused on our strengths and reminded each other not to be overconfident. Any team right now is really strong, so we always have to go all-out,” Cayuna said.

“That’s what we do in training, so it’s a good thing it translated onto the court,” she added.

Nxled set the tone for the dominating win after taking full control of the opening frame.

The Chameleons used an 11-4 spurt to turn a two-point lead early in the first set into a 20-11 advantage that Capital1 failed to recover from.

Nxled again seized the steering wheel in the next two frames with decisive runs midway into the sets.

The Solar Spikers a third straight setback to slide down to a 2-4 win-loss record in solo seventh, putting them in danger of missing the semis cut.

Erika Santos had 12 points, all from kills, as the lone Capital1 player in double-figure scoring.

Vanie Gandler had a quiet seven points while Belen was limited to a personal conference-low five points for the Solar Spikers.