Heat is on: Petro Gazz win over Creamline tightens PVL semis race

Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses (foreground, left) congratulates Petro Gazz counterpart Koji Tsuzurabara, whose Angels celebrate their marathon win in the PVL All-Filipino Conference. —PVL IMAGES

Petro Gazz left everything on the floor late Saturday night and pulled out a 15-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 15-13 victory over Creamline before close to 6,000 screaming souls that packed the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex for easily the biggest win for the hard-fighting Angels in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.

The biggest factor was no surprise: Brooke van Sickle, who willed Petro Gazz to the win with a career-high 29-point performance that also featured 12 excellent digs and 20 excellent receptions.

That effort and the game plan prepared by coach Koji Tsuzurabara have now tightened the race for semifinal slots as Petro Gazz claimed a third place tie with Creamline at 6-2.

“[Creamline is] a team that does not give up, not one bit,” a very tired Van Sickle said. “I’ve seen them endless times; Even if they’re down, they come back.

READ: PVL: Brooke Van Sickle not satisfied after latest Petro Gazz win

“We’re very aware of how that mentality is for that team and we can’t let up at any point,” Van Sickle went on. “If we let up one, they have that mentality and will come back and take it away from you. I feel like we did a very good job of taking every point seriously.”

Vast improvement

Petro Gazz’s two losses also came from five-set thrillers, a testament to how good this team has become ever since Van Sickle came as the new go-to gun and after Tsuzurabara took over.“Coach Koji prepared us very well coming into the game.

Creamline, they’re a very scrappy team … he prepared us big-time for their offense,” the Filipino-American hitter said after leading Petro Gazz to only its sixth win in 29 head-to-head matches with the Cool Smashers.

SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024

“I feel like they’re probably the No. 1 team that runs a lot of plays especially in transition, so he made us very aware to be able to track those. I feel like we did a really good job limiting them to doing cross plays and combination plays,” she added.

Jonah Sabete supported Van Sickle with 21 points, while Djanel Cheng’s 20 excellent sets allowed veterans Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Remy Palma to finish with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Tots Carlos, who was limited to 15 points, still led four other Cool Smashers with double-digit scores.

Petro Gazz can afford some rest before it faces Cignal next. And it will be another tough game, for sure, with the HD Spikers, who also dragged the Cool Smashers to five sets before losing, also still in the running for a place in the semifinals.“It was a good win tonight (Saturday) and definitely we’ll celebrate, feel good about it,” Van Sickle said.

“But once tomorrow hits, it’s a new day so we gotta keep not being satisfied and keep pushing.”