Nxled head coach Ettore Guidetti praised his team's growth in the PVL on Tour while outlining improvements in blocking and middle attack as the Chameleons prepare for the Reinforced Conference.
Nxled head coach Ettore Guidetti expressed pride in his team’s major strides despite stumbling in the PVL on Tour quarterfinals.
The Chameleons bowed to the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in straight sets, 17–25, 15–25, 20-25, marking the end of their preseason stint. Nxled finished second in Pool A with a 3-2 record.
Despite the defeat, Guidetti believes the young squad is still at the start of a long journey to PVL contention.
“Honestly, we are upset because we didn’t show our real potential,” Guidetti admitted to reporters. “But if I have to rank the performance of my team, it’s for sure a 9 out of 10. Nobody expected the team to develop this way and to cover a lot of gaps.”
“It's a path. It's a long journey. We know it is.”
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While praising his players’ motivation, Guidetti said the defeat revealed two key areas for growth for the upcoming conferences.
“We have to raise our level of blocks,” he noted. “Normally, we are really good in blocking and defense... We have to reach new levels in our system of [blocking].”
“And second, obviously, we need to have better consistency in the middle game,” he added. “We cannot only play with our spikers and opposite. We have to have more, more attacks with the middles.”
Still, the Italian mentor sees no shortage of drive within the Chameleons, especially with pieces such as Chiara Permentilla, EJ Carino, and rookie Lyann De Guzman.
“The girls are really aiming to be better, and they really want it. And this is something that is deep inside my team,” said Guidetti.
“They will find the inner strength to be better for the next one.”
Nxled will miss out on the PVL Invitational Conference this month. Instead, the team will be back in the Reinforced Conference starting October.