CAPITAL1 locked down the No. 8 seed with a 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24 win over Galeries Tower in the two teams' preliminary round finale in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at the Playtime Filoil Centre.
Bella Belen led a late three-point surge to overturn a Highrisers set point that would’ve forced the match to a fifth set.
With both teams already locked into the No. 8 and No. 9 spots before the match, the result did little to shake up the standings.
What it did give the Solar Spikers was momentum, as well as psychological edge heading into their immediate rematch on Tuesday in the opening knockout phase of the play-ins.
They also snapped a two-game skid to close the prelims at 4-5, tied with Choco Mucho in wins, though they still finished behind on match points with 10.
Meanwhile, Galeries Tower will limp into the do-or-die rematch on a five-game slide, with its conference now hanging in the balance.
"Our team took this game seriously, because we respect them a lot. That's why we had to really work hard today to get this win," said Capital1 head coach Jorge Souza de Brito.
France Ronquillo emerged as their unlikely spark, erupting for 20 points behind Belen’s all-around brilliance. The Solar Spikers’ top gun delivered a routine triple-double of 23 points, 15 receptions, and 14 digs, once again doing it all on both ends.
Cherry Nunag added 14 points, while Sydney Niegos chipped in 11 markers on top of 13 digs in a strong two-way showing.
Eternal sunshine
Capital1 came out firing, racing to a 10-4 start before riding that momentum all the way through the first set behind the finishing hits of Ronquillo, KC Galdones, and Niegos.
The second set opened much tighter, with neither side able to pull away early. But once the Highrisers found their rhythm, they flipped the frame in their favor and held their ground, with Cams Victoria delivering the attack that drew them level.
With Belen leading the charge, the Solar Spikers came out just as sharp in the third, taking five of the first six points and rode that early surge.
When it came down to crunch time, their go-to scorer took over, as Belen converted back-to-back hits to push Capital1 to set point, before Nunag finished it off to hand the them a two-sets-to-one lead.
Galeries Tower came out blazing in the fourth before the Soalr Spikers clawed back to force an 18-all deadlock. The former still managed to stay in front in the closing stretch, but the latter seized control at the right time.
A costly Winnie Bedana attack error swung the momentum, before Belen put the finishing touch with a signature cross-court hit to seal the win.
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas paced the Highrisers in defeat with 17 points and 11 digs, while Jean Asis chipped in 14. Gayle Pascual and Erika Deloria added 10 points apiece, with the latter also tallying 15 receptions.
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