After getting that Finals feel, NXLED ready to go all the way

Nxled is all set for the All-Filipino tournament. —MARLO CUETO

Nxled got swept by Thailand’s EST Cola in its finals debut in the PVL Invitational Conference, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19, on Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But the Chameleons believe their best is yet to come as they will play with a complete roster in the All-Filipino Conference next month, with three-time MVP Brooke Van Sickle returning from a shoulder injury.

“We are surely happy. I want to say a silver is a silver. But now, finally, we figured out how to enter a Final. Now we have to understand how to win it. So this is the next step,” said Nxled coach Ettore Guidetti after a lopsided finals loss.

“One hundred percent of my players will be available starting on the 14th of September, all of them,” he added.

The Italian coach admitted that his team couldn’t sustain their good showing in their first five games.

“They (EST Cola) really pushed us with their serves; we had problems in passing, and from that, I think that we didn’t really enter the game. So the block was working pretty [well], the defense was not bad, but our side-out didn’t express its full potential,” he said.

But Guidetti believes they are on the right track, with the champion players from the defunct Petro Gazz and the former Cignal duo Gel Cayuna and Jackie Acuña reinforcing the squad.

“I’m pretty sure that the continuous effort of the team will help us to figure out how to do it, to improve, and to have another possibility to take a title,” he said.

Despite missing their best player, the Chameleons made their presence felt during the Invitational.

“We’re really happy and blessed because our main goal this conference was to build our connection as a team, and that’s something you can’t develop overnight,” said Jonah Sabete-Escamillan in Filipino.

“Last conference, we were still trying to find our rhythm, even with Brooke with us, so being able to build that connection now means a lot.”

Nxled also had three All-Premier team awardees, with Cayuna winning her sixth Conference Best Setter trophy, MJ Phillips being named as the Best Middle Blocker and Escamillan earning her first PVL Best Outside Hitter award.