Nxled star Brooke Van Sickle knew that keeping Choco Mucho’s 1-2 punch of Eya Laure and Sisi Rondina-Rosales quiet for an entire match would not be easy, if not downright impossible.
With that in mind, Van Sickle urged her teammates to stay composed and execute their offense as they found ways to contain the Flying Titans defensively. That, particularly after the Rebisco-backed squad built a commanding 22-14 lead in the third set and moved within reach of a 2-1 advantage.
“Yeah, I’d say when versus Choco Mucho, I mean, Eya and Sisi are very good outside hitters and they’re going to score points. That’s just what they do,” said the former Season MVP.
Refusing to panic despite the mounting pressure, the Chameleons unleashed eight unanswered points to tie the set, before completing a stunning turnaround to snatch the frame.
Nxled carried that momentum into the fourth, taking control to seal their victory over Choco Mucho, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The win extended the Chameleons’ winning streak to four games in the 2026 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Siklab series, keeping them in pace with Creamline atop the standings at 4-0.
“So I think as a team, it’s like, OK, how can we attempt to slow them down as much as possible and just stay calm, right? We can’t be like, ‘oh, shoot,’ and be frowning and stuff when they make an excellent kill. That’s just what they do,” said Van Sickle, who finished with 19 points, 12 excellent digs, and 12 excellent receptions.
(C) PVL Images
Laure finished with 18 points but struggled to find her rhythm offensively, converting just 16 of her 52 attack attempts. Rondina-Rosales, meanwhile, managed 14 kills on 41 attempts as Nxled’s defense limited the duo’s offensive efficiency.
“I’ll say Choco played really great. Definitely the first set, we definitely were under a lot of pressure, and we felt it, and we had to calm ourselves down, try to stick together as much as possible throughout all the sets,” Van Sickle said.
“So I think that’s the thing is we had to focus on ourselves and execute what we need to do and make our own points in order to get that win against Choco,” she added.
Van Sickle credited her teammates’ composure and fighting spirit for refusing to fold in the third set, a character she hopes the Chameleons can carry into their succeeding matches as they look to sustain their winning run.
“And yeah, the third set, I mean, it’s not how it begins; it’s how it ends. So I’m really proud of the team for sticking through it. And I think this conference, we’re going to see a lot of that, where it’s like people are already doing reverse sweeps and pushing teams to the five. So it’s kind of unpredictable, and it just goes to show that this conference, you have to fight and you have to earn every single point, so you can’t let up even if you have a lead,” she said.
“So I think that’s a lesson we’re definitely going to take into our next games. But yeah, I thought everyone did great in this battle.”
