NXLED made sure Friday would not end with another fourth-set collapse.
The Chameleons survived a late Ho Chi Minh charge to pull out a 25-20, 31-33, 25-17, 25-22 victory in the 2026 PVL Invitational at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, moving into joint second place with PLDT at 2-2 (win-loss).
READ: PLDT pushes back as noise grows louder amid shock losses
Only a day after squandering a 20-12 lead in the fourth set against EST Cola, NXLED nearly found itself in a cruel case of deja vu when its 19-10 cushion against the Vietnamese side shrank to just one, 22-21.
This time, however, the Chameleons regrouped and refused to let history repeat itself, closing out Ho Chi Minh to make sure the foreign clubs would not sweep another day of action.
The defeat dropped Ho Chi Minh to 1-3, leaving the Vietnamese side, like Farm Fresh, to wait and see whether it can stay alive in the chase for a finals berth.
"We restarted in the third set with the same idea, like nothing happened. We were still ready to fight. Obviously, there are bad things and good things, but the good thing in this one is we never gave up," said Nxled head coach Ettore Guidetti.
Jonah Sabete-Escamillan led five Chameleons in double figures with a second straight triple-double of 18 points, 20 receptions and 15 digs.
Myla Pablo also scored 18, including five blocks, followed by MJ Phillips with 17, EJ Laure-Carino with a 16-point, 24-reception double-double, and Jackie Acuna with 12.
Gel Cayuna made the balanced attack work with a conference-high 35 excellent sets and five points.
Nxled, though, wasn't spared from another tough lesson that came in the second set, squandering its first two of four set points at 24-22 as Ho Chi Minh erased them, seized a 25-24 lead and went on to get six set points.
Eight deadlocks later from 24-all, captain Dang Thi Kim Thanh ended the extended frame with a crosscourt hit from the right flank as the Vietnamese side's strong charge ran out of gas in the endgame.
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