PETRO Gazz proved that when it comes to its ‘five-set curse’ in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference, lightning won’t strike in the same place thrice.
Standing at the forefront of a breakthrough statement win was the league’s leading scorer Brooke Van Sickle with 173 total points in eight games (21.6 points per game). Van Sickle is all over the statistical leaderboard both on offense and defense
The Fil-American hotshot leads the PVL field in serving (0.50 aces per set), third in spiking (38.06% success rate), fourth in receiving (42.9% efficiency), eighth in digging (3.07 digs per set) and ninth in blocking (0.43 blocks per set).
READ: Petro Gazz outlasts Creamline in five-set Sta. Rosa thriller
On top of such stacked numbers, Van Sickle just had a career-best 29-point performance against no less than the Angels’ perennial rival and defending champion Creamline in a five-set classic in front a 6,149-strong crowd at Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
“Just focused on grit, really. Coach Koji (Tsuzurabara) prepared us very well coming into the game. Creamline, they’re a very scrappy team. They kept balls up and even if we think they’re gonna be a kill, they’re not. Basically, he prepared us big time for their offense. I feel like they’re probably the number one team that wins a lot of plays especially in transition. He made us really work to be able to track those (shots). I think we did a pretty good job doing fast plays, combination plays.
“It was just grit, taking it one point at a time. Five-set matches, how I see it is it can go anywhere. You win by just a couple of points. We came on top this time so I’m proud of the team,” Van Sickle said.
Lessons learned for the Angels
Only two losses have marred Petro Gazz's run of good form this conference, coming against fellow semis-seeking sides Choco Mucho and Chery Tiggo. Both losses came in five-setters.
Van Sickle took it upon herself to ensure that they’ll be able to crack the five-set code when it mattered most and even if it was against another powerhouse team like Creamline.
“We learned a lot of lessons from Choco Mucho and Chery (Tiggo) and we grew from there as a team and you know, Creamline is amazing. They’re an awesome team. Coming in here, I have watched them a lot so far this season and they’re a team that does not give up, not one bit. I’ve seen them endless times even if they’re down, they come back so I feel like for us, we’re very aware of how that mentality is for that team and we can’t let up any point.
"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," said Van Sickle.
What was arguably their biggest win of the conference to date didn't come without a few hiccups here and there, but overturning their lapses in such a pressure-packed game proved to be their cutting edge when all was said and done.
"The start of the game, I feel like we’re a little tense definitely. The crowd, Creamline, they have such an amazing fan base. That is so cool, just to be able to play in that atmosphere. Even though we’re not Creamline, they’re cheering against us, it can be a little stressful at times but I feel like we did a good job being able to not pay attention to it too much, even though we couldn’t really hear because it was so loud. But I thought we did a pretty good job,"
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