With the stakes running high, Brooke Van Sickle vowed to remain aggressive following Petro Gazz’s four-set win over Chery Tiggo to open the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference round-robin semifinals.
Van Sickle continued to dominate for the Angels and took charge in their 20-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-16 victory, which snapped the Crossovers’ seven-game winning streak, on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena.
The 26-year-old Filipina-American outside hitter was on point for Petro Gazz, unloading a game-high 21 points on 18 attacks, two blocks, and one ace. She also had 12 excellent digs and eight excellent receptions.
“Coming to the next game, (I’ll) just try to stay aggressive. And I feel like every player that steps on the court – everyone wants it, everyone wants to win, everyone’s aggressive… Like I need to match that and continue to put full effort and a hundred percent swing every single time,” said Van Sickle.
‘That is the game plan. Just hit the ball hard.”
Despite her impressive showing, Van Sickle felt that she made several errors and believes that she cannot afford that, especially at this crucial stage of their campaign.
(C) Joaqui Flores/PVL
“These teams are very scrappy, they’re very good at defense, and they’re gonna put up a fight, and I feel like I made a decent amount of errors today. It is what it is,” said the University of Hawaii product.
“This is my first semis, so I definitely know like, points and sets play a factor in how the finals go and everything like that. So yeah, it’s gonna be a tough, tough battle,” she added.
“Any game in the semis, it doesn’t matter who it is, who it’s gonna be – down to the point, it’s gonna be tough, very tough.”
Petro Gazz (1-0) gained a huge advantage following their four-set win. It gave them three precious points to take the number one spot after the first day of the semifinals.
Choco Mucho (1-0) is currently in second place with two points. Creamline (0-1) managed to get a point after its five-set encounter with the Flying Titans to settle at third, while Chery Tiggo (0-1) sits at fourth.
Even though the Angels got an important headstart, Van Sickle is not resting on her laurels. She urges the rest of Petro Gazz to remain focused as they try to finish the round-robin semifinals strong and make it to the finale.
“We just have to make sure that we continue to focus on our side and take care of our business. When we all come together and very collectively just like ‘okay, this is what we’re gonna do’ and continue to push,” she declared.
“I think this team can do great things. We just need to stay focused.”
