Nxled outplays Akari to reach PVL semis

Manila Times - Nov 12, 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Nxled became the first team to make the semifinal round of the 2026-27 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference-Siklab Series after overpowering Akari, 27-25, 25-22, 26-24, on Thursday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. Nxled remained undefeated at 6-0. This marks the Chameleons’ first All-Filipino Conference semifinal appearance since their league debut in 2023. Their previous best finish in the tournament was fifth place in the 2025-26 season. "This means a lot and this is the continuity that we started in the Invitational Conference, and this is something that we really like. Today was tough and rough," Nxled’s Italian head coach Ettore Guidetti said. It is also important to note that Nxled’s current roster features several members of Petro Gazz’s 2024-25 All-Filipino Championship team: Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, Myla Pablo, and Jonah Sabete, who all joined their forces to defeat the league’s 11-time champions, the Creamline Cool Smashers. The Petro Gazz stalwarts transferred to Nxled after the franchise announced its leave of absence from the league in January 2026. Akari, on the other hand, dropped to 3-4 behind Creamline (4-1), Farm Fresh (4-2), Choco Mucho (3-3) and PLDT (3-3) in the team standings. Nxled has two remaining games...

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Svitolina rallies to top Muchova, boost WTA Finals bid

Nov 12, 2026

Svitolina rallies to top Muchova, boost WTA Finals bid

LOS ANGELES — Elina Svitolina roared back from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to boost her bid to advance to the WTA Finals semi-finals at Indian Wells. Ukrainian veteran Svitolina lifted the WTA Finals trophy in 2018 but hadn't been back to the elite season-ending event since 2019. She got off to a rocky start against Muchova, who broke Svitolina three times in the opening set. Trailing 2-1 on serve in the second Svitolina found her range, winning five straight games to force a third set. "I was not happy with the first set," Svitolina said. "I didn't play as well. I just made some adjustments, tactical adjustments. "I tried just to go more for my shots because I played kind of with her game," she added. "She has an amazing variety of the shots with the slice, with the serve and volley. I had to stay away from that and try to find shorter balls earlier in the rally. "I think it helped me also to be more aggressive, because I was too passive in the first set," Svitolina said. Svitolina said she was able to channel her "angriness" that had been brewing since her straight sets loss to Mirra Andreeva in her round-robin opener. She handed Muchova a second defeat in round-robin play and improved to 1-1 and will have a chance to compete for a semi-final berth when she takes on world number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in their final group match on Friday. Sabalenka took on third-seeded Russian Mirra Andreeva in Wednesday's other group match.