Papatchaya Phontham wins MVP, Gel Cayuna is Best Setter

Papatchaya Phontham of Thailand’s EST Cola in the PVL Invitational Conference MVP. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Papatchaya Phontham capped EST Cola’s PVL Invitational title run with the Most Valuable Player award.

Phontham dropped 15 points to deliver EST Cola’s crown with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of Nxled on Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Thai became the first international player to win the PVL MVP.

Phontham was also the Best Opposite Spiker. She was the No.2 Best Scorer with 97 points, third in spiking with a 35.74 percent attack rate and fourth in service with 0.37 aces per frame.

Gel Cayuna earned her sixth Conference Best Setter award, moving closer to Jia De Guzman’s eight.

Cayuna just signed with the Chameleons last May after Cignal filed a leave of absence and shone in her second tournament with her new team with 5.50 excellent sets per frame, third in the Invitational, and nailed 0.25 aces per set, ninth in service.

Nxled Chameleons’ Gel Cayuna during the PVL Invitational Final vs Thailand’s EST Cola. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Jonah Sabete-Escamillan won her first-ever PVL Best Outside Spiker award after showing her well-rounded game.

Escamillan was sixth in scoring with a total of 84 points, sixth in blocking with 0.65 kill blocks per set, fifth in service with 0.35 aces per set, fifth in digging with 3.15 per set, and third in receptions with 47.62 percent efficiency.

Last year’s MVP Savi Davison won her third Best Outside Spiker despite PLDT’s failed title defense.

The Filipino-Canadian spiker tallied three 30-point games in the preliminaries and topped all scorers with 135 points. She was the No.2 Best Spiker with a 37.97 percent attack rate, sixth in receptions with a 41.92 percent efficiency, and seventh in digs with 3.00 per set.

Davison dropped 29 points to win bronze for PLDT, beating Creamline in four sets.

Jaja Santiago-Minowa won her second Best Middle Blocker award after joining Creamline. She was the top blocker with 0.86 blocks per set, and third in scoring with 92 points.

MJ Phillips earned her third Conference Best Middle Blocker award, the first time since 2023. She tallied 79 points as the seventh-best scorer, fourth in blocking with 0.70 blocks per set, and second in service with 0.45 aces per set.

Kath Arado won her seventh Conference Best Libero, still the winningest in the league. She was the top digger of the tournament with 5.70 digs per set.