Nxled picked the perfect moment to flaunt its depth, firepower and big-game poise, toppling the very team that had stormed to the top with three straight wins to seize the solo lead in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.

After rallying from a shaky start to pull off a gritty escape against the Farm Fresh Foxies and then stifling the Capital1 Solar Spikers, the Chameleons kept their momentum rolling on Saturday.

Unleashing the full depth of their bench, they stopped the Cignal HD Spikers in straight-set fashion, 25-19, 25-22, 27-25, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Not only did Nxled display its firepower, but the Chameleons also showed a growing maturity that could make them the league’s newest powerhouse. After surrendering a 23-21 lead in the third set, they regrouped following a shaky stretch that saw them give up three straight points, including two on mishits.

Refusing to fold, Nxled clawed back from two set points, with Brooke Van Sickle igniting her team with a fiery blast after a series of tense exchanges to reclaim the lead for the Chameleons.

The Super Spikers tried to recover and feed Vanie Gandler for a counter, but the Alas Pilipinas standout misfired, sending the ball wide. Cignal challenged a potential block touch, but video review confirmed the point – and with it, the set and the match – for the rising Chameleons.

“We came into the game knowing it wouldn’t be easy, so everyone really pushed in training and stayed focused,” said playmaker Jules Tolentino in Filipino when asked about their game plan against the hot-starting Super Spikers.

Reflecting on their composure under pressure, Tolentino highlighted the team’s chemistry: “It’s the connection between each player, which we’ve been polishing in training.”

She finished the match with 19 excellent sets, including key feeds to a dynamic group of hitters that kept Cignal’s defense off-balance majority of the way

“Hopefully, in the upcoming games, we can gel even more as a team,” added Tolentino, who also scored five points.

The one-hour, 31-minute triumph put Nxled atop the standings at 3-0, and the Chameleons will look to extend their streak against the struggling Galeries Tower Highrisers on Thursday. Meanwhile, Cignal dropped to 2-1, allowing idle PLDT to claim solo second place at 2-0.

Van Sickle and MJ Phillips paced Nxled with 14 points each, while Myla Pablo added 12 markers and Lyann de Guzman chipped in nine, helping the Chameleons out-attack the Super Spikers 52-36. They also asserted their dominance at the net, producing seven blocks – five more than their rivals – compensating for their 24 unforced errors compared to the Super Spikers’ 17.

Erika Santos led Cignal with 15 points, but the usual scoring support from Vanie Gandler was missing as the Alas Pilipinas standout was limited to five points after a 25-point explosion against Farm Fresh. Erin Pangilinan contributed seven points, while setter Gel Cayuna scored five markers but struggled to orchestrate the offense, delivering only eight excellent sets.

The victory may not have surprised the surging Chameleons, but it stunned the Super Spikers and their fans – both in the arena and those watching from home.

For Cignal looked like a shadow of the team that had scored commanding victories over Galeries Tower, Choco Mucho and Farm Fresh, unable to counter Nxled’s blistering start.

The Super Spikers actually pulled to within, 16-17, in the second after trailing by five, and tried to mount a late fightback after the Chameleons pulled away again on a 7-3, trimming what had been a 19-24 deficit to within two points behind a quick three-point surge.

But just as momentum seemed to tilt, the Chameleons stayed composed.

They went to their bread-and-butter play – a set for Van Sickle, who responded as she rose above two defenders and hammered a hit that ricocheted off the block and sailed out of bounds, snuffing out Cignal’s rally and preserving Nxled’s control, 2-0.

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