Let there be light: Nxled pulls off recruiting coup, taps ex-Petro Gazz stars

Nxled suddenly found itself as one of the teams to beat in a quick turnaround from a cellar-dweller following an earth-shaking recruitment coup ahead of the 2026 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference.

The Chameleons landed three-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Brooke Van Sickle along with decorated winger Myla Pablo, top middle blocker MJ Phillips and promising young setter Jules Tolentino, bringing with them a wealth of experience and championship pedigree.

Nxled unveiled the last batch of its acquisitions on Thursday, completing its conference break revamp just weeks before the season-ending tournament opens on 31 January.

After much speculation, Van Sickle decided to join the Chameleons and reunite with her former Petro Gazz teammates after the four-time champion franchise took a leave of absence.

“I mean, change is always good,” Van Sickle said.

“I think it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and you know, we’re still grateful for Petro Gazz for having us join that family and unfortunately, it’s no longer a team but we’re really excited to be a part of Nxled and yeah, we’re just very excited. The gym atmosphere is really great and obviously the coaches are awesome and yeah, we’re just super excited,” added the Filipino-American, who came into the league in 2024 and helped the Angels win a breakthrough AFC title and a third Reinforced Conference crown last year.

Familiarity and chemistry won’t be a problem for Nxled as it took advantage of Petro Gazz’s withdrawal from the league by taking in a total of 11 ex-Angels.

Aside from Van Sickle, former MVP Pablo and two-time Finals MVP Phillips and rookie Tolentino, the Chameleons also added Jonah Sabete, Djanel Cheng, Nicole Tiamzon, Bang Pineda, Ranya Musa, AA Adolfo and Jellie Tempiatura.

Nxled also signed veteran middle blocker Aby Maraño and setter Joyme Cagande from Chery Tiggo, along with middle blocker Aduke Ogunsanya from Choco Mucho — bringing their total number of new recruits to 14.

Italian head coach Ettore Guidetti welcomes the challenge of turning Nxled’s fortunes around after a winless Reinforced Conference.

“Yeah, sure, I mean it’s a big responsibility and we all know that so that’s our goal to keep going to once more bring this team, this new team and this old team at the same time to the top of the rank, to try to play finals and to have as much as possible finals in the next years,” he said.

“So, yes, I know it’s a big responsibility. Maybe some crazy Italian guys have to take it.”    

Retaining their spots are the Chameleons holdovers Lyann de Guzman, Chiara Permentilla, Krich Macaslang, Lucille Almonte, Jovelyn Fernandez, EJ Laure and Mayang Nuique.