Angels’ two championships highlight year of changing PVL guards that took place
For the first time in a long PVL while, Creamline ended a season without a title.
Safe to say, there was a changing of the guards in the highly popular women’s professional volleyball league, with Petro Gazz stamping its class with two championships that make the Angels the new queens of the league.
Not that the PVL leadership doesn’t like the Cool Smashers, but league president Ricky Palou told the Inquirer over the phone that Petro Gazz winning two titles and PLDT triumphing in two tournaments between those speaks highly of the newfound balance in the field.
“It was pretty much successful and we are very happy with the results,” Palou said when asked how he would rate the year about to pass compared to the others before. “But, you know, like in everything you do, we could have still done better.
“You have teams now challenging the traditional powerhouses and that’s good from where we see it,” Palou added. “Next season will be even better, because all the players will continue to develop.”
Alas-friendly sked
The league will be on a long break and foremost in Palou’s they-will-do-better scheme is to come up with a schedule that will not disrupt the Alas Pilipinas team’s international campaigns and of course, find a more permanent venue for PVL games during the course of the coming years.
“There were times that I even had to ask some of our staff where our games are for the day,” Palou said with a laugh. “But seriously, we will address that for the coming season and beyond.
“It may be hard to do, but we will do that.”
The balance that Palou was talking about became more evident when Petro Gazz, Creamline and PLDT saw action in the AVC Champions League in Pasig City, where they faced top clubs from Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, China, Vietnam and Thailand. All three PVL teams reached the quarterfinals.
Unseating the best
The longest tournament the PVL ever played stretched from the latter part of 2024 until early this year, a grueling six-month grind that had the Cool Smashers and the Angels dominating the elimination round.
They would eventually dispute the title in a best-of-three series that went the distance and the Angels won a classic, which also announced the arrival of Brooke Van Sickle as the new yardstick of local talent.
Further balance was later on achieved in June, when the second Draft had Capital1 snagging the charming Bella Belen first overall.
The Reinforced Conference was competitive after new imports rose to the occasion, led by Best Import Anna DeBeer, who powered the Thunderbelles to a historic run.
Petro Gazz brought back 2022 Finals MVP and Best Import Lindsey Vander Weide, and the rest, they say, is history.
Van Sickle also won her third Conference MVP, joining three-time winners Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos. She was also named the first ever season MVP of the PVL Press Corps.
