BROOKE Van Sickle is out to exorcise the biggest 'ghost' yet in her two-year PVL career.
The two-time MVP bared that Petro Gazz' straight-sets loss to eventual champion Creamline in the 2024 Reinforced Conference knockout quarterfinals remains the most heartbreaking defeat she has endured in the league.
“At the time, we weren't having a really good season. We finished like middle, I’m pretty positive, and we definitely went in as the lower-ranked [team] versus Creamline in the quarterfinals,” Van Sickle recalled to SPIN.ph.
“It was just frustrating in a sense because the season before, we got the podium, we got third, but obviously Creamline still won. And I was like, ‘I just kind of wanted to keep going, keep going up as a team.’
“But they [Creamline] jumped on us from point one and absolutely killed it. I thought everyone did a fantastic job. At the time, Erica [Staunton] fit really well into their system and they just took it and ran with it. They won, so it is what it is.”
Fate, however, wasn’t finished with her.
A little over a year later, Van Sickle and Petro Gazz get another crack at Creamline under almost the exact same circumstances as last season’s import-laced playoffs.
Once again, it will be No. 3 Creamline versus No. 6 Petro Gazz in a do-or-die match for a spot in Thursday’s semifinals.
Van Sickle's focus
Instead of letting the moment become a quest for revenge, Van Sickle is choosing to channel her energy into sustaining the Angels’ resurgence at the most crucial stage of the conference.
“The past is the past. It's history repeating itself, kind of. You win some, you lose some, so it’s just depending on how you bounce back and you learn from the lessons," BVS said.
“It’s a very tough league, this conference, and I think every team is playing phenomenally right now. Creamline definitely has a lot of grit. It's just to be able to stay calm and collective as a team and a unit, because they’ve been playing with each other for so long, that group, and they have that chemistry and that cohesion.
“We have to bring our A-game from point one or else they're just gonna do what Creamline does best. So it's gonna be a fight.”
With all previous records rendered meaningless come Monday, everything will boil down to who performs better in those few precious sets.
And as for whether Van Sickle can finally rewrite her story, “time will tell what happens," she said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
