EST Cola dealt Creamline its first loss of the 2026 PVL Invitational, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 27-25, on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, as the Thai club stretched its win streak to three and pulled level with the Cool Smashers at 3-1 (win-loss).
Nattharika Wasan scored EST Cola’s last two points in the face of what was shaping up to be a signature Creamline comeback from as much as eight points down at 9-17 earlier in Set 4.
The Cool Smashers even reached set point first at 25-24, but Wasan had more than enough in the tank to halt the momentum and deny the brewing comeback.
The defeat denied Creamline an outright finals entry it had been chasing, at least for now, while giving EST Cola a major boost heading into the last day of the preliminary round.
The Cool Smashers had entered the match unbeaten through three games, including a five-set escape against Farm Fresh on Thursday.
With Nxled and PLDT closely behind at 2-2, the race to the finals has blown wide open.
What once appeared to be Creamline’s race to lose has turned into a four-team scramble following Farm Fresh and Ho Chi Minh’s title race exits, with both finals berths still up for grabs.
EST Cola leaned on a strong two-way showing from Thai national team ace Papatchaya Phontham, with 27 points and 12 digs, to stun the 11-time champions. Her fellow veteran stars Nannaphat Moonjakham and Nirarach Srikuta put up 16 and a 12-point, 15-reception double-double, respectively.
"I don’t feel nervous or anything. I just feel like we play it point by point and stay in the game. It’s not really that the crowd noise pressures us, but the cheering does have an effect. We try to keep control of the team more," Phontham said in Thai.
Jaja Santiago-Minowa paced Creamline in the shock first loss with 19 points, while Jema Galanza extended her stretch of triple-double performances to three with 15 points, 16 receptions and 15 digs.
Team captain Alyssa Valdez also had an 11-point, 11-reception double-double that just fell short in the end.
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