Jonah Sabete keeping Nxled’s title bid afloat

Nxled’s Jonah Sabete Escamillan during a game against Ho Chi Minh in the PVL Invitational Conference.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Jonah Sabete-Escamillan continues to display her well-rounded game for the Nxled Chameleons, who remain in finals contention despite the absence of three-time MVP Brooke Van Sickle in the PVL Invitational Conference.

Escamillan fired from all cylinders, tallying 18 points, 20 excellent receptions, and 15 digs, as the Chameleons vented their ire on Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, 25-20, 31-33, 25-17, 25-22, to improve to a 2-2 record.

Four teams are still fighting for the two finals slots, with Creamline and EST Cola tied at 3-1, while Nxled and PLDT knotted at 2-2, with the former having a 7-6 edge in the FIVB point system tiebreak.

Jonah Sabete-Escamillan on keeping Nxled’s title hopes alive. #PVL2026 @inquirersports pic.twitter.com/N8X39I14MN

— Lance Agcaoili (@LanceAgcaoilINQ) September 4, 2026

The Chameleons need to win their final elimination game against the Farm Fresh Foxies in three or four sets on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and will hope for either Creamline or EST Cola to lose to make it to the championship match.

“It’s a big responsibility because Brooke isn’t here, so I need to step up. We’re also short on open spikers right now. There are only three of us, so we really can’t afford for anyone to get injured because we need someone to rotate in, especially with our games coming one after another,” said Escamillan in Filipino.

The veteran spiker also left everything on the floor two days ago against EST Cola with 26 points on 15 kills, six blocks, and five aces, while also collecting 21 digs and 13 excellent receptions. But Nxled blew a 20-12 margin in the fourth set and wasted their 24 kill blocks in a five-set meltdown against the Thais.

“It was really painful. We were already physically tired, but we’re used to these close, hard-fought games. We just told each other that we had to endure whatever happened in this game. We just held on and relied on each other,” said Escamillan.

READ: PVL: Nxled shows there’s life without Brooke Van Sickle, sweeps PLDT

Nxled also blew a 19-10 fourth-set lead against Ho Chi Minh, as Dang Thi Kim Thanh made it a one-point game, 22-21, but Escamillan conspired with MJ Phillips to refuse to suffer another collapse and complete the win.

“We were already close in that game, but we just lacked the finishing touches. MJ and my other teammates kept saying that we needed to win this game because everyone was really tired. We just held on and kept fighting,” she said.

Nxled, composed of the core of defunct Petro Gazz, eyes a PVL Finals comeback against their former coach Koji Tsuzurabara, whose Foxies remain dangerous despite already being out of the title race.

“Knowing Coach Koji, he’ll definitely study every player. He knows most of us. We just have to prepare ourselves because we know the next game will be another hard fight,” Escamillan said.