Petro Gazz Angels in the PNVF Champions League. –HANDOUT PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Petro Gazz renews its rivalry against Cignal in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League final on Saturday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Jonah Sabete and Brooke Van Sickle joined hands to lead the Angels in torching the Chery Tiggo Crossovers, 25-21, 25-19, 25-14, in their knockout semifinal game on Friday evening.
Earlier, Cignal ousted College of St. Benilde to first advance to the one-off final.
Sabete poured in 19 points built on 13 attacks, four blocks, and two aces for Petro Gazz while Van Sickle continued to shine in her first tournament in Manila, scoring 12 points to eliminate Chery Tiggo in one hour and 27 minutes.
“I’m very grateful to be a part of Petro Gazz and I couldn’t be more thankful for my teammates. Again, they’re just supportive and we feel comfortable every single day, every second. It was a team win, like everyone played extremely well and everyone came on fire today. We have stuff to prove and we wanna prove,” said the Filipino-American wing spiker.
“I’m just super proud of the entire team and all the work we’ve been putting in. It’s starting to show and I’m really excited to see us continue growing.”
Remy Palma also shone with 10 points. Aiza Maizo-Pontillas had seven points while Myla Pablo sat out in the semifinal, less than 24 hours before their championship game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Petro Gazz and Cignal clash for the PNVF championship since their meeting in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference finals, where the Angels swept the series behind the dominance of import Lindsey Vander Weide.
Interestingly, Van Sickle and Vander Weide are former teammates at University of Oregon.
This time, it’s Van Sickle who will lead the Angels against the HD Spikers headlined by rising star Vanie Gandler and new libero Dawn Macandili-Catindig
The former US NCAA Division 1 star out of the University of Hawaii expects a tough match against Cignal, which has yet to lose after five games, completing a come-from-behind 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10 victory over College of Saint Benilde, earlier.
“I’m expecting tomorrow they’re (Cignal) gonna come on fire, for sure. Especially they’ve just played a five-setter, they’re gonna definitely come out very aggressive,” Van Sickle said. “But as long as we stay calm, we just take care of our business, I believe we can compete for sure. It’s anyone’s game. It’s just who’s making less errors, who’s the one coming out aggressive. I believe both teams will, but hopefully, we’ll have a little bit more.”
Chery Tiggo’s three-game winning streak was snapped by Petro Gazz and was relegated to the battle for third against St. Benilde at 3 p.m.
Eya Laure was the lone bright spot for the Crossovers with 15 points. Ara Galang had eight points, while Aby Maraño was limited to six points.