Brooke Van Sickle and the Petro Gazz Angels celebrate against PLDT High Speed Hitters in the PVL All-Filipino Conference.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Brooke Van Sickle delivered her best outing yet in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference to lead Petro Gazz to a sweep of PLDT, 25-16, 25-23, 25-21, on Saturday at PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Van Sickle, who was the PNVF Champions League Most Valuable Player last month, finished with 23 points including a block and an ace to startle the Savannah Davison-led High Speed Hitters.
“I can’t do it without my team,” Van Sickle said after helping Petro Gazz bounce back from a five-set defeat to Choco Mucho. “The connection with the setters is starting to build slowly.”
“They’re great teammates, they make me feel super comfortable and they have my back as I have theirs and I am just really proud of this team,” she added.
SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024
Petro Gazz Angels’ Jonah Sabete.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
After a jittery showing in her PVL debut and falling short against the Flying Titans, Van Sickle has been emerging as the point person for the Angels.
“It’s hard to lose in five [sets to Choco Mucho] and it was close to. [They] were a really good team, it was like high hopes and for it to end like that is kinda unfortunate,” Van Sickle said of their loss to the Flying Titans.
“But we learned our lessons, had a lot of things that we learned from the game … team captain Rem [Palma] brought the team together and we were able to talk about things that not only happens on the court,” she added.
Petro Gazz imposed itself early to immediately gain control of the match.
After a 12-all deadlock, the Angels started to pull away before Van Sickle and Davison traded blows in the second frame. PLDT slowly closed the margin at 21-19 as Davison led the High Speed Hitters’ offense with three straight points, 24-23, before Van Sickle capped the frame after scoring off the block.
It was the same story for PLDT, which had Davison finish at 19 points, in the final frame as Petro Gazz continued controlling the tempo.
PLDT rookie Shiela Kisea committed a costly service error that gave the Angels a 24-21 lead before Joy Dacoron nailed an ace that sealed Petro Gazz’s 2-1 win-loss standing.
“Trying to build the chemistry, I do believe a team [that gets along] off the court—good chemistry transitions on the court so I am really happy that we have that connection as a team,” Van Sickle said.
Jonah Sabete added 13 points, all from attacks, for the Angels.
Kim Fajardo had 17 excellent sets in a losing effort for PLDT, which suffered its first loss of the conference after posting back-to-back wins, while Erika Santos added 10 points.
Petro Gazz tries to duplicate its performance against Akari while PLDT attempts to bounce back against league newcomer Capital 1 on March 9 at Filoil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.