THIS ONE’S FOR BROOKE
There are two things that the Petro Gazz Angels probably still remember from their team-building event before the PVL All-Filipino Conference.
One is Brooke Van Sickle crying over that uncontainable desire to finally win a championship with her team.
“I did cry in front of my team, and I just was basically saying just how much I want a championship,” she said.
The Angels have won two Reinforced Conference titles and have been to the championship three other times—all resulting in failures to win an all-Filipino crown.
Van Sickle hasn’t experienced any of those title wins and losses.
The other memory is that of the team pledging to give Van Sickle her title shot.
“We said during that team building, we wanted to reach this Finals for Brooke,” said fellow hitter Myla Pablo. “We all worked together to make it to this point.”
Van Sickle will finally get to lead the Angels in a title showdown after a 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 win over Akari on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum punched their ticket to the All-Filipino Finals.
“It feels very surreal. It’s been a very long conference and there have been a lot of ups and downs, and to be where we are right now is amazing,” Van Sickle said after notching 15 points for Petro Gazz. “I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team, and I’m so glad that my teammates [are] there for me at all times and they’re just a group of wonderful girls.”
There’s a deep well of inspiration to draw from for the Angels.
They haven’t won an all-Filipino trophy, something that veteran setter Chie Saet hopes to achieve before retiring.
“I really hope we can win this,” the 40-year-old playmaker said.
The team responsible for Petro Gazz’s all-Filipino failures will be on the other side of the court in the Finals.
Creamline booked the other championship berth after shutting down sister team Choco Mucho, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15.
But perhaps the greatest motivation will be Van Sickle.
“She did a lot for the team in the last two conferences,” Pablo said after finishing with 16 points to lead Petro Gazz.
And Van Sickle appreciates her teammates’ gesture.
“I’m really excited to share this experience with them, just going to the finals and everything. I’m ecstatic. This is awesome,” she said. “I am not very surprised [knowing that they dedicate this to me] because they’re just wonderful people, and they’re selfless and when I say Petro Gazz is like a family, we are.”
‘Very nervous’
“The goal is to win, but we have to focus on the process more than just the actual goal itself … We made it to the finals, and then now we just have to take it point by point, game by game, so it’s easier said than done, so [we’ll just] give our all.”
Petro Gazz, however, needs to be ready if it wants to make this Finals stint a dream run.
And the Angels’ star scorer is as prepared as she can ever get for her first shot at a PVL crown.
“I am not gonna lie, I was very nervous and stressed even for the [semifinal] round. I feel like it’s normal; you’re supposed to feel something, right? You’re supposed to have butterflies, you’re supposed to be stressed but you have to deal with it. That just makes it fun and exciting,” Van Sickle said.
“Every night I’ve been dreaming of volleyball and … it’s like every scenario playing in my head, good and bad, so it’s been just a lot of visualization, so definitely stressed but it’s fun, it’s good stress,” she added.
