Filipino-American outside spiker Brooke Van Sickle believes that Petro Gazz is yet to reach its full potential following its triumph in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Champions League.
Van Sickle expressed that the retooled Angels are gradually establishing their chemistry and cohesion in preparation for the highly anticipated Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
“I do believe that we’re a force to be reckoned with moving forward. We’re slowly proving ourselves and building confidence as each day goes by. We’re developing team chemistry and everything,” said Van Sickle.
“There’s still more to come from what we’re working on. We’ve kind of touched the surface of it, but there are a lot of cool things that Coach Koji (Tsuzurabara) wants to improve that we’re still going to work on,” she added.
The former US NCAA standout has consistently showcased spectacular performances throughout the tournament. She contributed 20 significant points in the HD Spikers’ 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 victory over Cignal in the title match.
She received both the Most Valuable Player and the Best Open Spiker awards after the Final.
“It’s just the cherry-on-top type of finish. I’m very proud of my entire team. I believe that we’ll be able to win. It’s just depending on if we came out firing; everyone absolutely did that today.”
Van Sickle, however, redirected the credit to her teammates and the coaching staff for preparing them against the previously unbeaten HD Spikers.
“I’m just so proud of everyone. Credit to the coaching staff for coming up with game plans that were super helpful. Individual awards are cool, but I could not have done that without all my teammates. They were super helpful the entire time, you know, having my back and being there for them, and vice versa. I’m very proud of everyone,” she said.
The 5-foot-9 open spiker mentioned that their significant win in the PNVF Champions League will serve as a momentum booster for their upcoming PVL campaign.
“It’s a build-up of our confidence. Moving forward, it just shows us that we are able to do it. As long as we have our minds set, and work hard every single day, we can get stuff done, and I’m very proud of our win,” she said.
“Sweeping Cignal in three sets, that was tough. To be able to have the mental focus to do that, that’s huge.”
