MANILA, Philippines — After months of losing games, Italian coach Ettore Guidetti finally had a taste of sweet victory and now he’s hungry for more in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.

Taking the reins of the rebuilding Nxled team hasn’t been an easy task for PVL rookie coach Guidetti but he’s starting to slowly see the results of his work with the team, leading to a 25-20, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23 triumph over Galeries that ended a 15-game losing skid dating back to July last year.

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READ: PVL: Nxled stops 15-game slide at expense of Galeries

“The fact that I am still here after a bunch of losses says that I am feeling very good about the team. They are really really nice to coach. This is a very coachable team. I am having every single day a nice day staying with them,” Guidetti said on Saturday.

“I have 16 very nice human beings and it’s part of my work to use all that I can to help them to develop.”

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Guidetti said he is remaining patient despite Nxled’s woes, applying what he hard learned from his previous overseas stints and trying to apply it to the young Chameleons.

Nxled Chameleons celebrate during a win over Galeries Tower Highrisers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.–PVL PHOTO

“It’s not even one of my most difficult ones because I have very hard times maybe in Poland or other countries. But the truth is when you step after a loss, you go to practice and you finish the practice full of energy because your team is mirroring the will to be better,” he said. “This is an incredible help for me as a professional and it tells me not only to keep going but to forget immediately about the frustration.”

May Luna-Lumahan, part of Nxled’s 15-game losing streak, said she immediately more inspired after finally earning their first victory with their Italian coach. 

“Worth it yung paghihintay and of course worth it yung pagod namin every day kasi mahirap talaga magtraining na puro ka talo. Parang kailan ba kami mananalo? Or mananalo ba kami today sa game? Worth it lahat,” said Lumahan, who had 12 points including the game-winner.

READ: PVL: EJ Laure, Nxled get much-needed boost from rare win

With a 1-8 record tied with Galeries and Capital 1, Guidetti believes that his wards have already shown tremendous improvement and  is capable of  wining more games.

“It’s kind of four matches ago that I started to see a really good improvement about the numbers. In the beginning, honestly, it was a big gap between us and some of the other teams. Right now, we’ve shortened the gap and I was really waiting the day that finally we can click and win a very high and difficult set. Thank God that day has come. That day is today,” said the Nxled coach.

“We are looking for more in the next game and to show everyone that this is nothing but the beginning.”