FULL LIST: 2025 PVL Rookie Draft Aspirants 

MANILA, Philippines — Nxled had the best odds to land the first overall pick in the 2025 PVL Rookie Draft with a 40 percent chance in Monday night’s lottery at TV5 Media Center.

But luck wasn’t on the Chameleons’ side, as they ended up with the fourth pick instead with Capital1 taking the No. 1 pick.

Team manager Dzi Gervacio admitted the result was disappointing, especially since none of Nxled’s four entries were drawn even for the third pick. That selection went to Farm Fresh, which had only one ball in the final draw.

READ: PVL: Nxled starts rebuild with Jov Fernandez, Janel Delerio deals

Still, Gervacio remained optimistic, pointing to the 60-player draft’s depth and the bigger picture for the league.

“This is so nerve-wracking. But I’m so happy also for the other representatives,” said Gervacio. “And again, before we started this whole draft night, what Commissioner Sherwin (Malonzo) said: We do this draft for parity, for the league to level up.”

“Of course, it’s not so favorable for Nxled Chameleons, but again, I feel like this is gonna be such a deep draft batch. I’m really excited to see who’s gonna be finally on that official draft list for PVL 2025.”

Nxled Chameleons coach Ettore Guidetti during a PVL All-Filipino Conference game. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net

She added: “The chances—you’ll never know what could happen. At the end of the day, we’re still at number four. I think that’s a good spot to land.”

Gervacio said coach Ettore Guidetti and his staff are ready regardless of where they land in the order.

“This is a lottery. It’s not up to anybody’s decision or chance. We’ve been preparing as to who we’re gonna choose with whatever list that comes up on June 4,” said the former PVL player-turned-executive.

She also noted that players’ decisions to join the draft could still shift in the coming days.

“These girls, too, [can] change their minds. Some of these girls still have OJTs, still have a couple of classes left in their year before they actually graduate. And these things would also come into play for their decision-making process. For us, we’re always gonna be ready and still hope for the best.”

Lots of options

Nxled looks to make the most of the Draft Combine on Friday and Saturday at Paco Arena.

“Just to share, you know, there was one athlete from the NCAA who joined practice one day,” said Gervacio. “We weren’t even thinking about getting another middle blocker. But coach Ettore thought she’s good, she’s something, she can give something that we don’t have right now in our roster.”

She added that the team remains open to all options.

“It really depends. It’s still recruitment season. There are still a lot of people who are free agents, who are knocking on our doors. And you never know—a name suddenly comes up, or someone who’s not from NCR, someone who we haven’t seen on TV, steps up at the combine. A lot of hopes for all positions.”

Nxled finished with a 1-10 record in the 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference preliminaries and went winless in both the qualifying and play-in rounds. The Chameleons also only won one of their eight games in the Reinforced Conference.