MOTHERS know best, for sure, and it wasn’t any different for newly-minted Premier Volleyball League (PVL) MVP Brooke Van Sickle.
In her PVL debut back in the season-opening All-Filipino Conference, the 26-year-old Fil-American outside hitter won league MVP honors on top of Petro Gazz’ bronze medal finish.
She also won tournament MVP in the PNVF Champions League, the preseason tilt preceeding the 2024 PVL season which the Angels wound up winning.
But for Van Sickle’s Ilocos Sur-born Filipina mom Lisa, a former volleyball player herself, there’s one particular tendency to Brooke’s game that has to change: playing ‘too cute.’
“As a hitter, sometimes I try to play like what my mom says is ‘too cute,’ where I kinda just try to pull a shot versus having the mentality of being, ‘OK, I can’t do that because the league’s good and you gotta keep firing,’” said the younger Van Sickle.
Indeed, if Van Sickle learned anything about the PVL's level of play, it’s that no team will give anything up too easily, and there's no room to let your guard down at any given moment.
“We get in like little runs sometimes and I feel like we can’t let up. As it’s going and we’re up on a team, we have to continue to fight. No matter what the score is, everyone has heart," she said.
“It doesn’t matter what the rankings are, every team’s gonna come out. They wanna win, everyone does... They’ll try to come back even if it’s like a 10-point lead. Teams don’t care and they’ll still try to fight.”
Pressure’s on for Brooke and Petro Gazz
There’s a lot riding on this conference for the Angels, as they look to become the first team to complete a Reinforced Conference three-peat.
READ: Wilma Salas dedicates PVL season to the late Janisa Johnson
Adding fuel to Petro Gazz’ title defense is the pursuit of performing at their very best in honor of their late teammate and 2019 Reinforced Conference Finals MVP Janisa Johnson, the Angels’ team captain in their first-ever PVL championship campaign.
Even if their paths never crossed, Van Sickle hopes to prove worthy of the red-and-white No. 10 that was once Johnson's and now hers.
“I personally wasn’t able to meet her, but everything I’ve heard were just wonderful things. Everyone has so much love for her," she said.
“I wish I could have been able to watch her play and play with her, but I’m happy to be able to be wearing the same number. Hopefully, I can continue to play well and get that (championship) for her.”
All things considered, the pressure is really on.
“Everyone’s shooting for No. 1 and there can be pressure, but we just gotta take it day-by-day and make sure to stay calm, take every breath and try our best."
Van Sickle added: “How I see it is this league’s gonna be very tough. Everyone, not only the imports, but everyone rises to a new level. Volleyball’s just getting better every single conference."
A dream come true for Brooke
From the US to Cyprus and now in her mother’s homeland, the volleyball dream seemed too good to be true at first for Van Sickle.
“Being able to play in the Philippines is amazing. It’s like nothing else I’ve imagined of an experience. Just to be able to have this opportunity is super surreal. I’m super grateful to be able to even have this chance of being able to play here," she said.
“Every single conference as it’s going on, it’s already getting significantly better and better. It’s just an exciting thing to see how the future of PVL’s gonna be. Maybe this year, maybe in a couple of years, I don’t know when, but it’s gonna be just so competitive and a hard playing field to make volleyball really exciting.”
With her proposed federation shift to represent Alas Pilipinas already in the works, Van Sickle is ready and raring to heed the call of national duty should it come one day.
“If that’s an opportunity that I’ll be able to do, I’ll be super grateful to be able to do it and represent the Philippines. Right now, I just go where I’m told. If they need me, then I’ll go," she said.
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