PVL: Galeries Tower pulls off four-set stunner vs Nxled

Galeries Tower HighRisers’ Erika Deloria during a game against Nxled Chameleons in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference. –PVL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Galeries Tower pulled off the biggest upset in franchise history, taking down the core of defending champion Petro Gazz, now leading Nxled.

Galeries Tower stunned the erstwhile-unbeaten Nxled, 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21, for its second win in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Thursday evening at FilOil Centre.

Rookie Erika Deloria continued to shine as a HighRiser, leading her team to an improved 2-2 record.

With Brooke Van Sickle trying to force a decider and keeping Galeries within one, 21-20, Roselle Baliton blocked the three-time MVP, who then committed an attack error that gave the HighRisers a 23-20 edge.

Erika Raagas drilled the game-winning hits to complete the upset.

Baliton and Deloria finished with 16 points each, with the former nailing seven blocks. Gayle Pascual chipped in 13 points.

“Coach kept reminding us that blocking is really important — we have to penetrate at the net because it’s a big contribution to the game,” said Baliton. “We just stuck to our system, even when the opponent went on runs. We stayed disciplined and kept doing what we practiced.”

The loss dropped Nxled to 3-1 and denied it a sweep of the elimination round for an outright semifinal berth.

Ex-Petro Gazz Angel Aiza Maizo-Pontillas haunted her former teammates with nine points. Jean Asis also stepped up for the HighRisers with 12 points, while while setter Julia Coronel paced the team with 15 excellent sets on top of five points.

“I’m very happy with how they responded today. Even though we came from a straight-sets loss, their reaction and adjustments were really good — especially on defense. You could really see that they wanted to win this game,” said Galeries coach Aying Esteban.

“Actually, we didn’t focus too much on Nxled as the opponent. What we prepared was our own game — how we wanted to play. I told them that as long as we play our best, we’ll give ourselves a strong chance to win.”

Van Sickle carried Nxled with 21 points, while Chiara Permentilla sparked the team from the bench with 16 points, as MJ Phillips, Bang Pineda, and Djanel Cheng sat out in the match.