Nxled grinds out a shot at All-Filipino semifinals
When the core of the former champion Petro Gazz Angels joined Nxled for this Premier Volleyball League season, people thought the road to glory would be easy for the team.
But the Chameleons knew better.
They started strong, faced adversity early and found themselves in a tight race for a qualifying spot. Ultimately, Nxled dropped to the Play-In, with their fate out of their hands in the final week of the preliminaries.
“It was kind of unknown who our opponent was going to be,” said three-time MVP Brooke Van Sickle, the biggest name among the former Angels signed by the Chameleons in the offseason. “We didn’t know if we were going to play today or if we were going to play two days before.”
On Saturday, they made sure they knew they were going to play another day.
Van Sickle nailed the game-winning block on former teammate Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and backstopped MJ Phillips’ 17-point outing to help Nxled sweep the gritty Galeries Tower, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 and advance to the final phase of the Play-In in the All-Filipino Conference.
“I’m just excited to keep moving forward one step at a time,” Van Sickle, who delivered 14 points and nine digs, added after the match at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Riding the momentum
The Chameleons know how to approach that next step, given everything they’ve been through together.
“We just focused on ourselves and what we can improve on as a team. And how we can still stick together and play cohesively. We’re just doing a little fixing things on our side of the court,” she said. “Just moving forward, watching more films, making sure our bodies are feeling great and just continuing to keep communicating and pushing each other in practice.”
Facing Galeries presented a tough challenge for Van Sickle and her teammates. Not only were the Highrisers riding the momentum of a dominant sweep of Capital1 last Tuesday, but they also dealt the Chameleons a four-set defeat that lit the wick of Nxled’s four-game slide.
“Galeries upset some teams and especially us too and I already knew that they’re going to be tough,” Van Sickle said. “They’re going to come out firing and it doesn’t even matter, like the third set, they were still battling to the end, so we stayed calm and collected.”
“There were a little road bumps, but I’m proud of all the girls for being able to stick together and working together as a team, whoever was on the court. I thought Galeris had a really good run. They’re going to be very lethal in the future; they already did really well, too.”
Nxled battles Farm Fresh for a semifinal berth, which would be the franchise’s first PVL Final Four appearance.
