MANILA, Philippines — The Nxled Chameleons proved that they are for real as Italian coach Ettore Guidetti declared that they are not the underdogs of the PVL on Tour.

Nxled booked its first quarterfinal appearance after bouncing back strong against Farm Fresh in their crucial final preliminary game, 25-13, 25-16, 25-14, on Sunday at USJ-R Coliseum in Cebu City.

Guidetti, who joined the team in the 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference and had a 12th-place finish, believes that his system has been integrated into the young Chameleons to finish the preseason prelims with a 4-1 record in Pool A for an outright playoff ticket. 

“Right now, we have a system, and the system is working itself,” said Guidetti. 

“It takes time. I know it’s difficult. Once again, I am grateful to our president because he gave me the opportunity and the chance to keep going with my work. Something has changed, and the girls are really playing good volleyball.”

EJ Cariño, who unleashed 19 points to seal the quarterfinal ticket, agreed that the Italian’s system has been working wonders for the Chameleons, who drafted Lyann De Guzman at No. 4 and signed Jov Fernandez, for a breakthrough since joining the league in 2023.

“Of course, I’m super happy because all the hard work we put in since last year is finally paying off under Coach Ettore,” Laure said in Filipino.

“I think we were just really eager to win this one, so we can finally rest this weekend. Coach Etorre really told us we had to go all out and win this game against Farm Fresh. And we did.”

Guidetti said that their first loss to PLDT was an eye-opener, bringing all the lessons when they fly back to Manila as they prepare for the knockout quarterfinal round starting on August 7.

“There are a lot of things that we have to work on. Yesterday, in the game against PLDT showed that if we’re facing a team that is very good in block and defense, we crash,” he said.

“And one thing is going under pressure and makes their life a little more simple. This is the major step that we have to do. But we have a little bit more time.”