Petro Gazz officially locked in the second spot after sweeping Nxled, 25-19, 25-14, 25-17, to finish the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference preliminaries on a red-hot nine-game winning streak, Thursday night at the Philsports Arena.
Brooke Van Sickle and MJ Phillips spearheaded the Angels, who matched top-ranked Creamline with identical 10-1 records.
However, an inferior set ratio placed them at No. 2 heading into the qualifying round.
Van Sickle posted a game-high 17 points — 15 of which came from attacks — for Petro Gazz. Meanwhile, Phillips backstopped her with 14 markers on nine attacks, three aces, and two kill blocks in the one-hour, 21-minute contest.
(C) PVL Images
“I think our team did a really good job this past preliminaries. I thought that we stayed consistent. It didn’t matter who was playing and to come out with only one loss, I feel like it’s good for confidence before moving to the playoffs,” said Van Sickle.
“I’m just proud of the team and I hope we can continue with this energy,” she added.
Myla Pablo tallied nine points, while Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and KC Galdones had seven and six markers, respectively, in the victory.
Djanel Cheng dished out 14 excellent sets to go along with two points.
Baby Love Barbon and Jellie Tempiatura registered 10 excellent receptions and eight excellent digs, respectively, while sharing libero duties.
Powered by the dynamic duo of Van Sickle and Phillips, the Angels dominated on offense with a 48-34 edge in attacks. Petro Gazz also imposed its presence at the net with a 9-3 advantage in blocks and outclassed their opponents from the service line, 7-1, in aces.
Petro Gazz will take on No. 11-ranked Capital1 in the qualifying round, which begins on February 27.
(C) PVL Images
On the other hand, Nxled, Capital1, and Galeries Tower all finished with 1-10 records.
However, the Highrisers secured 10th place and the Solar Spikers claimed 11th due to their superior quotients — leaving the Chameleons in 12th place.
Lycha Ebon paced Nxled with 12 points, while team captain Chiara Permentilla had nine markers in the loss.
