Brooke Van Sickle isn’t putting any pressure on herself ahead of her much-anticipated Petro Gazz debut in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference.
The University of Hawaii standout already showed a glimpse of what she can do in the PNVF Champions League, leading Petro Gazz to the title while also taking home the MVP and Best Outside Spiker awards.
“I don’t feel any pressure. No, not at all. Like I said during the last game against Cignal, awards are cool and all, but my goal as a player is just to be consistent,” said Van Sickle during the PVL Media Day at the TV5 Media Center.
“That’s all I wanna do. I want to be able to support my teammates and be there for them, and just be that consistent player. But going into the PVL, yeah, I’m excited. Yeah, not stressed at all,” she added.
Van Sickle bared that she is blocking off the outside noise and that her main focus right now is to be a consistent contributor for a Petro Gazz side that is eyeing its first title since the 2022 Reinforced Conference.
The 24-year-old Hawaii-born outside hitter also said that she is looking forward to being a part of something that is bigger than herself with the Angels, emphasizing the importance of teamwork over individual play.
(C) PNVF
“For me, I just want to be as consistent as possible. I think that will hopefully be my role. I want to be there for my teammates. They have my back; I want to be able to have their backs and the chemistry that we’re already building, and the relationships that we’re building,” she said.
“I’m super grateful for it, and I can’t be happier. It’s nice to be able to go to the gym every single day and know you’re working hard for your teammates but also the greater purpose of winning, right? And yeah, it’s good to have that goal in mind to keep working hard.”
Van Sickle believes that the Angels must work doubly in order to complete their goal, explaining that their recent win over the erstwhile unbeaten Cignal in the PNVF Champions League is proof of how unpredictable and competitive the PVL is.
“They’re unbeaten throughout the whole tournament, but me, personally, I don’t care. It is what it is. Good for them that they’re unbeaten in the entire tournament until we played them, but that just goes to show how hard the PVL is,” she said.
“You have to be on at all times, and any team coming in, any game, they could win. So that basically just proves that we have to make sure we take everything seriously and keep working hard because you don’t know what’s going to happen, who’s gonna be on that day, be more aggressive, or try to take you down. You just have to continue to fight.”
