Nxled Chameleons during a game against Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the PVL on Tour.–PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Nxled Chameleons got swept in their first-ever PVL quarterfinal appearance, falling to Chery Tiggo, 25-17, 25-15, 25-20, on Saturday at Philsports Arena.
It was a frustrating playoff for Italian coach Ettore Guidetti, but he vows that his wards will keep learning from the tough exit to be “better next conference.”
READ: PVL on Tour: Chery Tiggo stops Nxled to reach semifinals
“Honestly, today we are upset because we didn’t show what is our real potential. But if I have to rank the performance of my team, you know, it’s for sure a 9 out of 10. I mean, nobody expected the team to develop that way and to fill a lot of gaps,” said Guidetti.
“We are happy about this. But at the same time, we have to consider that to reach a certain level of consistency, we need time.”
Guidetti said Chery Tiggo took advantage of their frontline, which needs to improve its blocking and play consistently.
“We have to raise our level of block. Because, honestly, Chery Tiggo didn’t pass that good. But they find a lot of situations with block out and block in against my team,” said the Nxled coach.
“And normally, we are really good at blocking and defense. So this looks like more experienced teams, more skilled teams, they have more abilities. We have to reach new levels in our system of blocks.”
READ: PVL: Nxled shedding off underdog status
“Obviously, we need to have better consistency in the middle game. We rise up with the opposite. But honestly, we cannot only play with our spikers and opposite. We have to have more, more attacks with the middles,” he added.
Nxled made its maiden appearance in the PVL playoffs after winning four of its five Pool A games for an outright quarterfinal berth.
For coach Ettore and his Chameleons, this preseason is just the start of good things to come.
“The girls are really aiming to be better and they really want it. And this is something that is deep inside my team. So I’m pretty sure that also after this loss, that is a kind of something set for all of us,” he said. “They will find the inner strength to be better for the next one.”
And one of the good things to come is No. 4 pick Lyann De Guzman, who showed her potential to lead Nxled despite getting checked in the latter part of the tournament.
READ: PVL: Nxled makes quarterfinals for first time
“She is an amazing person. And she is probably one girl who will stay in the next lead as long as she can,” said Guidetti.
“One thing that I am is that I have zero favorites in my team. So that’s why sometimes she will play, sometimes she will not. So who is playing, in my opinion, with the best volleyball has the possibility to play.”
De Guzman, who checked in the second set and scored six in two sets played, vows to stay stable and consistent as they learn from this quarterfinal exit.
“What matters is being ready for the ups and downs. It’s normal. Every game, someone always steps up off the bench, which is great. With our team, you can see that there’s no fixed ‘first six’, whoever performs will shine,” said the former Ateneo captain in Filipino.
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“Of course, I’m really proud of our team because as we all saw, everyone gave their all just to get here. For me, this preseason was a big success. We’re just taking things step by step, and we know we’ll eventually reach our goal, which is the championship.”