Chameleons’ top four aspirations to run through High Speed Hitters
Nxled, which for all intents and purposes is practically the defending PVL All-Filipino Conference champion, battles formidable PLDT on Thursday as the Chameleons seek to do what they need on the floor, which is half of the things they need to keep playing on.
The Chameleons, whose core is now made up of the defunct Petro Gazz squad led by former MVP Brooke Van Sickle, and the league-leading High Speed Hitters tangle in the 4 p.m. contest at FilOil Centre needing to win before hoping to get help from other squads.
With a 4-4 record, Nxled must beat PLDT to close out its elimination round schedule and hope that idle Akari and Creamline, who have 5-3 cards, do not add to their win totals. Such a scenario could result in a multi-team tie for the last two top four slots that would necessitate a tiebreak.
Nxled, however, refuses to look that far ahead, with its focus now aimed at snapping the High Speed Hitters’ four-game winning streak.
“We just came off a win, let’s celebrate it. But next we got PLDT and they’re doing a fantastic job,” Van Sickle said. “So we have to prepare much better. And, you know, I think it was good that we broke the losing streak.
“So now I think, again, steps in the right direction, building confidence as a team,” she went on. “And, yeah, just continue to keep making day by day (improvements).”
The High Speed Hitters’ last loss was in Feb. 24, a shut out to sister team Cignal.
Tournament format calls for the top four teams to advance to the cross over round for semifinals berths that gets off the ground Thursday next week at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Choco Mucho (3-5) and ZUS Coffee (1-7) tangle at 6:30 p.m., both aiming to improve their standings and build momentum heading into the grueling Play-In phase.
The bottom six teams will be split into two groups, with the group winners advancing to face crossover match losers in the qualifying round.
