Reduce starter bacteria, reduce ripening time, alter cooking temp a little, stir more (eliminates excess curd whey), drain & hoop a little early, do a partial curd wash. Depends on the cheese and what you are trying to achieve. When you drain, you are removing a huge amount of lactose and are putting the brakes on acid production at that point in the make. However as LB has pointed out many times, the acidity at draining is very important so you don't want to drain too early either. Pressing removes more whey and lactose and limits acid production even more.
The fallacy of pH points is that they are absolutes at every step of the make. If you are producing cheese every day on a commercial basis, that is true to a certain degree, but it is still about defining a method and routine that works within a given environment. Milk, cheese, bacteria, molds, are all living things not a mathematical equation that can be followed without subjective evaluation.