Nxled celebrates during a victory over Petro Gazz in the PVL on Tour preseason tournament in Batangas.–PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Led by rookie Lyann de Guzman, Nxled showed a bright future after stunning All-Filipino champion Petro Gazz, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 25-15, 15-10, in the PVL on Tour on Saturday evening at Batangas City Sports Center.
De Guzman, Nxled’s fourth overall pick, set a rookie record with 21 points in her debut, unleashing 18 kills and three aces to will her squad from a 1-2 match deficit.
“Honestly, I was super nervous at first. When I entered the arena, I was like, ‘This is it.’ But my seniors told me to just relax and enjoy the game, and that really helped boost my confidence,” said De Guzman in Filipino after tallying nine excellent receptions and eight digs.
“Of course, I’m very happy because everything we’ve been training for these past few weeks really showed in our game. We just need to follow Coach’s system, and the points will come.”
READ: PVL: At Nxled, Lyann de Guzman joins another foreign coach
The Chameleons also turned to team captain Chiara Permentilla in the crucial moments of the match as she scored the last four points to finish with 10 in their first franchise win over the Angels.
Jov Fernandez and Jaycel Delos Reyes also stepped up for Nxled in the fifth set, helping the Chameleons zoom to an 8-5 start before Nicole Tiamzon sparked Petro Gazz’s run to tie the deciding frame at 9-all.
Krich Macaslang stopped the bleeding for Nxled with a block followed by De Guzman’s ace to ignite a 5-0 run capped by Permentilla’s three straight points before her game-winning kill.
EJ Cariño also came up big for the Chameleons with 12 points. Fernandez had nine points, while Macaslang and Delos Reyes added eight and six, respectively.
“I am obviously happy because we won against the best team of the last conference. To be clear about this, I’m not crazy, I know that we won against the B team and I know that we have to keep our feet on the ground,” said Nxled coach Ettore Guidetti. “But it’s a B team [that is] very good. So we are happy that we have a very good reaction when we are losing too much. After that, we’ll keep increasing our energy.”
READ: PVL: Lyann de Guzman surprised to join Nxled at No. 4 in draft
Nxled and Choco Mucho clash for a 2-0 start in Pool A on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to wrap up the two-day Batangas preseason tour.
Myla Pablo led the Angels with 16 points, including five blocks to go with 10 digs, and eight receptions. Tiamzon and Sabete delivered 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Marian Buitre had four blocks to finish with 10 points, as setter Jules Tolentino debuted with 17 excellent sets.
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Petro Gazz, which missed MVPs Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips due to their Alas Pilipinas stint in the VTV Cup in Vietnam, hopes to bounce back against Galeries also on Sunday at 4 p.m.
