THE Nxled Chameleons have settled in the bottom part of the team standings in its first three seasons in the Premier Volleyball League except for a fifth place finish in the 2025 PVL On Tour, a preseason tournament.
Starting this season, things are about to change for the team.
Italian head coach Ettore Guidetti said Nxled is no longer searching for its identity and is now playing with seasoned confidence.
“The difference about Nxled in this conference is simple to define. This is a team that wants to arrive, to play at the top of the whole conference,” Guidetti said. “Before, Nxled was trying to find its own identity, to understand if it was a team to stay on the bottom, or like in the PVL on tour in the first six,” he added.
The team continues to banner its young talents but they are now being led by former Petro Gazz players Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips and Myla Pablo.
The Chameleons opened the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference with a 25-23, 13-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-12 victory against the Farm Fresh Foxies last Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Van Sickle, a three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) winner, led the scoring with 20 points and Pablo chipped in 19 points, including three crucial points in the fifth frame to secure the win for Nxled.
Guidetti shared his mentoring approach to the young and experienced players on the team. “So it was kind of different in a way,” he said.
“But honestly, I didn’t switch a single part of my style of coaching. I usually coach the young and the experienced ones in the same way. I’m always trying to give them everything that I got, even if it’s not enough.” For Van Sickle, she is glad to see the team come together despite them still working on team chemistry. “It was definitely a team effort. It was a good first game. The jitters were out, it was very up-and-down, but I’m really proud of the team for coming together and having really good energy at the end when it really mattered,” she said.
Nxled will face the Bella Belen-led Capital 1 Solar Spikers on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Montalban, Rizal.