Petro Gazz will enter the 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League with a limited reinforcement pool, as the Premier Volleyball League squad will only have one slot available for a foreign import.
This restriction stems from the status of Filipino-American spikers Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips, who are still under the jurisdiction of USA Volleyball, classifying them as reinforcements rather than local players.
PVL President and Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Vice President Ricky Palou confirmed the development, saying that while the competition allows up to three foreign players per team, Petro Gazz will only have the opportunity to sign one more.
“Yeah, (they accepted). We don’t know what their plans are because they are entitled to three imports,” Palou said.
“But we don’t know if they will get three imports, although si Petro Gazz, si (MJ) Phillips and Brooke (Van Sickle), they are considered as imports because they belong to the US federation, so they can still get one more.”
Meanwhile, defending PVL champion Creamline will have the full three-import allocation for the tournament.
The PNVF is currently in the process of transferring the federation affiliations of Van Sickle, Phillips, and PLDT’s Savi Davison, which would enable them to play as locals in future international competitions.
The 2025 AVC Women’s Champions League is set to take place from April 20 to 27 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The tournament will feature 12 champion teams from across Asia, including V.League Division 1 titlists NEC Red Rockets, Women’s Volleyball Thailand League champions Nakhon Ratchasima QminC, and Vietnam Volleyball League winners VTV Bình Điền Long An.
In the previous edition, the National University Lady Bulldogs represented the Philippines, finishing sixth among eight teams despite competing without any imports.
Petro Gazz qualified for the tournament after placing second in the preliminary round of the All-Filipino Conference.
