After emerging as the driving force behind Cignal’s resurgence, Vanie Gandler capped her stellar campaign by clinching the Most Valuable Player award to headline the Premier Team of the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
Gandler’s continued rise powered the Super Spikers to the second seed with a 6-3 record, while her commanding performance in the semifinals propelled the team back to the Finals for the first time in two years.
The 25-year-old outside hitter, now in her third year in the league, finished fourth in scoring at the end of the semifinals — the statistical cutoff for the highest individual honor — with 209 total points built on 182 attacks, 17 kill blocks, and 10 service aces.
Gandler also ranked ninth in spiking at 31.93-percent, while placing seventh in both serving with 0.23 aces per set and receiving at 36.59-percent, underscoring her impact on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, Capital1 super rookie Bella Belen — who claimed her first Best Outside Spiker award — and Nxled star Brooke Van Sickle, who secured the honor for the third time, were recognized for standout campaigns that anchored their respective teams throughout the conference.
Belen, who was also named Rookie of the Conference, finished third in scoring with 218 points on 199 attacks, eight blocks, and 11 aces, despite the Solar Spikers only reaching the first round of the play-in stage.
She also placed fourth in spiking with a 35.16-percent success rate and fourth in serving with 0.31 aces per set. Further showcasing her all-around value, she ranked second in receiving efficiency at 40.84-percent and sixth in digging with 3.06 per set.
Van Sickle, on the other hand, delivered another all-around performance. She finished seventh in scoring with 175 points, seventh in spiking at a 33.12-percent success rate, and ninth in serving with 0.22 aces per set, while ranking third in receiving efficiency at 40.71-percent.
Farm Fresh’s Trisha Tubu was named Best Opposite Spiker for the fifth time after leading the league in scoring with 251 points on 216 attacks, along with 30 blocks and five aces.
She also topped all spikers with a 41.70-percent success rate and ranked sixth in blocking with 0.60 blocks per set.
Meanwhile, Pangs Panaga of Creamline extended her record haul to a 10th Best Middle Blocker award, while Riza Nogales of ZUS Coffee secured her second positional honor in a stellar rookie season.
Panaga led all middle blockers in total kill blocks with 37 and ranked second in blocks per set at 0.76. Nogales, meanwhile, topped the league in blocks per set at 0.80 and finished fourth in total blocks with 28.
Cignal’s Gel Cayuna and PLDT’s Kath Arado completed the Premier Team, taking home the Best Setter and Best Libero honors, respectively.
Cayuna secured her fifth Best Setter award after finishing third in setting with 4.48 excellent sets per set, while also leading all setters in service aces with 0.34 per set.
Arado, for her part, claimed her sixth Best Libero award after ranking second in digging with 4.71 digs per set.
