Nxled Chameleons during a win over Farm Fresh Foxies at PVL on Tour in Cebu.–PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Nxled booked its first-ever quarterfinal appearance after dominating Farm Fresh in their crucial final preliminary game, 25-13, 25-16, 25-14, in the PVL on Tour on Sunday at USJ-R Coliseum in Cebu City.
In the battle of two Italian coaches, Nxled’s Ettore Guidetti got the better of his friend and comrade Alessandro Lodi, snapping the latter’s three-game winning streak for its maiden PVL playoff appearance since joining the league in 2023.
READ: PVL: PLDT blanks Nxled to earn quarterfinals berth
The franchise owned by Akari Lighting and Technology Corp’s best finish was eighth place in the 2024 All-Filipino, and it had a cellar-dweller finish in the last PVL conference.
“I’m really happy. I’m really proud, and the emotions, we’re grateful for the great opportunity that sir Chris (Tiu) has given me to drive this team,” said Guidetti.
“We are developing. That’s the very good thing about my team. It’s important. We are closing the gap. And right now, we can say that it’s officially true that we are not the underdog of this conference.”
The Chameleons had little time to regroup from their tough first loss at the hands of the PLDT High Speed Hitters, 11-25, 17-25, 21-25, but they showed a sense of urgency to become one of the four outright quarterfinalists this preseason.
EJ Cariño led Nxled’s onslaught with 19 points built on 16 kills, two aces, and a block, being the team’s starting outside spiker after coming off the bench in their first loss to PLDT.
Team captain Chiara Permentilla, who was scoreless against PLDT, bounced back with 10 points and seven digs. Jov Fernandez chipped in eight points and six digs. Jaycel Delos Reyes had three blocks to finish with five points, as Jaja Maraguinot tossed 11 excellent sets and fired three aces for four points.
READ: PVL: Nxled goes 3-0,escapes Galeries in tight sweep
Nxled, which finished the prelims with a 4-1 record, joined Pool A sweeper PLDT (5-0) and Pool B leader Cignal (4-1) in the quarterfinals starting on August 7. The final instant quarterfinal ticket will be determined in Candon, Ilocos Sur, when Chery Tiggo (3-1) battles ZUS Coffee (2-2).
Guidetti relished his first duel against his fellow Italian coach Lodi, expressing his respect for his friend.
“To be honest, it’s the only thing that made me not happy today because I prefer to win against anyone, but not against Alessandro,” said the Nxled coach. “We have many, many times the possibility to get in touch with each other, to share drills, to share knowledge. And Alessandro has got a very important experience in the US. So, basically, I was asking him a lot of feedback. I had a different experience in Europe, so we shared a lot.:
“It’s really important that we are exporting a little bit of Italian volleyball into Asia. And obviously, this is part of an hard work that we are really, really happy to do here in the Philippines,” he added.
Farm Fresh ended up with a 3-2 record, failing to carry its momentum from a 27-25, 25-17, 25-18 win over Galeries on Sunday night.
The Foxies need to play a knockout game on either August 2 or 5 for a quarterfinal spot.
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Trisha Tubu carried them with 12 points, as Jolina Dela Cruz and Rizza Cruz were limited to five points each. Alohi Robins-Hardy only tallied four excellent sets in a game where they gave up 24 errors.