At the end of the PVL’s longest tournament ever, the Petro Gazz Angels ended their wait for a long-cherished crown.
And the way they were all reduced to tears at the end of the match showed just how much this one meant to them.
“I’m very, very proud of this team,” Brooke Van Sickle said after Petro Gazz nailed the All-Filipino Conference crown late Saturday evening after a 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19 victory over Creamline in Game 3 of their title showdown.
“I just can’t believe this happened,” Van Sickle, who was named tournament MVP, added. “Everybody did a fantastic job.”
The moment Jonah Sabete hammered the game’s final kill, every Angel went into their own manner of celebration—the only thing common was the tears.
“We went through a lot as a team,” skipper Remy Palma said after sharing a tearful embrace with coach Koji Tsuzurabara. “We were near the breaking point of our patience, of our capabilities, but I told my teammates, ‘Let’s fight with heart. We got this far, let’s not let go of this opportunity.’”
The tournament lasted six months, a grueling stretch that would test teams and players and ensure that only the grittiest one survived. It was no surprise that it was the journey to the end that people talked about.
In fact, Ivy Lacsina, too, referenced what she and her teammates went through after the Akari Chargers grabbed the bronze medal with a 25-15, 26-24, 26-24 sweep of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans in the earlier game.
“With that last point, I was able to recall all that happened to our team this conference,” said Lacsina, holding back her tears.
Lacsina scored the last point of the battle for bronze.
Sabete, whose final point ended the Angels’ wait for an all-Filipino trophy, had to battle cramps on the way to 16 points that backstopped Van Sickle’s 21.
“I told myself to fight through it,” Sabete said. “I told my teammates no matter what happens, I’ll always fight through it.”
Chie Saet ran the Petro Gazz offense with efficiency, producing 22 sets. The 40-year-old Saet previously said that she wanted to win a title without imports before retiring. The Angels’ two franchise titles came from the Reinforced Conference.
“Now I can say we are champions,” Saet said. “The short adjustment period before Game 3 was difficult, but we survived.
“I always knew we could take this home and we did.”
MJ Phillips, who was named Finals MVP, finished with 15 points and anchored the Angels’ defense at the net.
“I just wanted to bring Petro Gazz the title,” she said. “Our team has been through a lot and we came together when the time was right and we showed a lot of resilience and grit.”
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Petro Gazz jumped to a two-set lead and held a four-point lead midway through the third set. But the Cool Smashers refused to roll over and yield their crown without a fight.
“Against Creamline, you can’t let up,” Van Sickle said. “They’re a team that continues to fight and keeps coming at you. They won’t stop no matter what the score is.” INQ
