Petro Gazz moves on cusp of bronze

Brooke van Sickle propels Petro Gazz Angels past Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference battle for third. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Petro Gazz fell short of a Finals appearance in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference because of a semifinal stint that saw the Angels lose steam when it mattered.

But the chance for a podium finish is one that the Angels won’t let slip away.

“Still [having the chance] to finish third, to me that’s like a start somewhere and also it’s good [for] our team to be able to [bag a] podium finish, if we can,” Brooke van Sickle told the Inquirer minutes after a 22-25, 25-12, 25-18, 27-29, 15-12 win over Chery Tiggo on Thursday that moved the Angels within another victory of a bronze medal. Petro Gazz dropped out of the championship fight after consecutive losses to eventual finalists Creamline and Choco Mucho, but they fought it out tooth and nail against the Crossovers in the appetizer for Game 1 of the title series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It was hard, for sure. I mean they’re good teams, right?” Van Sickle said of not making the best-of-three Finals. “So I knew it was going to be a battle like the Creamline game, even though we fell short, to me was such an awesome game to be able to play in that type of environment.” In bouncing back from that tough semifinal stretch, Van Sickle logged a new career-high of 36 points highlighted by 31 attacks, four blocks and an ace. She also had 11 excellent digs and 10 excellent receptions to help Petro Gazz inch closer to a bronze-finish in her first conference.Van Sickle got a lot of help from Jonah Sabete, who finished with 21 points, and MJ Phillips, who was big in the fifth set.

Phillips had timely blocks and a couple of quick hits to usher the Angels to an 8-4 lead in the decider. And when the count stood at 12-all, the Angels fought with dogged resiliency to win the last three points and wrap up the marathon match in two hours and 21 minutes.

Petro Gazz was sixth in the last conference before signing Van Sickle. And the Angels immediately showed promise with the prolific hitter leading the way.

“I am proud of our team and we’ll see what we can do,” she said. “Chery Tiggo is gonna come fighting, so I just don’t know what’s gonna happen. Maybe we win, maybe we don’t. We’ll see when the time comes.”

Petro Gazz’s last two games, especially against the defending champion Cool Smashers, were emotionally-filled, and Van Sickle thinks that with the Angels being able to control their emotions this time around, it helped them a great deal against the Crossovers.

“Against Choco Mucho and Creamline, it was very close,” she said. “We still were neck-and-neck (heading into the closing stretches of each set) and then at that point, we just couldn’t pull it out.

“I felt we did a better job of keeping it together [this time] and [played] more like a unit in this game and controlling our emotions,” Van Sickle went on.

Petro Gazz guns for a sweep of the battle for the crumbs on Sunday also at the Big Dome.