MANILA, Philippines — Nxled’s Myla Pablo was among the spectators who were on the edge of their seats during Creamline and PLDT’s clash on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The PLDT High Speed Hitters successfully escaped the finals-seeking Creamline Cool Smashers in a thrilling five-set affair, 25-17, 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12, in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference
While acknowledging that PLDT’s win means that Nxled would head to the finals, Pablo was nervous for another reason.
“Actually, I was nervous because, of course, Rald (Ricafort) is the head coach, so I told myself whatever the outcome would be, I’m super proud of Rald even if they lose,” she told the media in Filipino, referring to PLDT head coach Ricafort.
“But as it turned out, they won against Creamline, so I’m super happy and hopefully they can secure the bronze on Tuesday,” she added, showing support to her partner.
Pablo and Ricafort “hard launched” their relationship in May, when the Nxled gunner poked fun at the head tactician during the PVL All-Star match.
Pablo understood that the gold medal match against EST Cola would be difficult since the Thai squad could be tricky.
“Of course, the Thailand team is still young, so they are still very eager to play and not really tired yet. As for us, being a veteran team, we really need to give our best on the court. We just need to play our game, follow whatever our coaches tell us, and just listen to them.”
With the Nxled franchise heading to the finals for the first time, Pablo believes that this is because of the veteran experience of her teammates.
“We were really quick to build a connection with each other. Naturally, it wasn't hard for us either because our teammates are true veterans. So I'm really, really happy that we made it to the finals of the Invitational.”
