SANTA ROSA – Petro Gazz overcame a 1-2 deficit to outlast Creamline in a tight five-set encounter, 15-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 15-13 in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference in front of a roaring crowd inside the Santa Rosa Sports Complex here, Saturday.
Brooke Van Sickle took over in the decider, unloading six points in the fifth set to finish with a career-high of 29 points on 23 attacks, four blocks, and two aces, to go along with 20 excellent receptions and 12 excellent digs.
Van Sickle’s impressive performance allowed the Angels to improve their standing to 6-2, tying their victims at the second spot through identical slates.
“We learned a lot of lessons from Choco Mucho and Chery and we grew from there as a team and you know, Creamline is amazing. They’re an awesome team,” said Van Sickle after the victory.
Van Sickle took over in the deciding set, scoring four points in a 5-1 run that stretched an early 3-2 gap to an 8-3 advantage.
And when the Cool Smashers managed to cut the lead to one, the Filipina-American spiker came through once more, scoring off a ball touch after a successful challenge to put her side at match point before Alyssa Valdez answered back with a cross-court hit, 14-13.
Aiza Maizo-Pontillas then scored the game-winning hit to finish the game after two hours and 26 minutes of action.
“Coming in here, I watched them a lot so far in this PVL season and they’re a team that does not give up, not one bit. I’ve seen them endless times even if they’re down, they come back so I feel like we’re very aware of how that mentality is for that team and we can’t let up any point,” added Van Sickle.
After splitting the first two sets, Petro Gazz fumbled a 24-22 lead in the third frame as Tots Carlos scored three points in a four-to-zero blast to give the Cool Smashers a 2-1 set advantage.
Jonah Sabete then came up big in the fourth, scoring two consecutive points to give her side a 24-18 advantage. Joy Dacoron committed a service error before Maizo delivered a down-the-line hit that sent the game to a fifth set.
Sabete finished with 21 points to go along with 14 excellent receptions and 13 excellent digs while Maizo and team captain Remy Palma chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively for the Angels.
Petro Gazz faces off against Cignal following a 10-day break on April 16, 4:00 p.m. at the Philsports Arena.
On the other hand, Carlos, who played off the bench in the first two sets, finished with a team-high 15 points for the Cool Smashers, who absorbed their second loss of the conference, while Bea De Leon played her best game for the team with 13 points, including six blocks.
Valdez and Jema Galanza ended up with 11 points each, with the former registering 19 excellent receptions and the latter tallying 14 excellent digs, while Michele Gumabao added 10 markers in the loss.
Creamline looks to bounce back against Nxled on Saturday, 6:00 p.m. also in Philsports.
