The Petro Gazz Angels have done it!
Faced against a tough, resilient champion in the Creamline Cool Smashers, Brooke Van Sickle and company proved to be just a little better, pulling out a 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19 victory in Game 3 of PVL All-Filipino Conference Finals to clinch their first All-Filipino title in franchise history.
Roaring Start for Petro Gazz Angels . . . Then Adversity Follows
Petro Gazz, perhaps smarting from its 2023 defeat to Creamline, started out by taking the first set and dominating the second for an early 2-0 lead. But the ghosts of Petro Gazz past seemed to haunt the Angels again in the third set as they squandered a 17-13 lead and lost what could’ve been the title-clinching set.
The adversity continued in the fourth set, with the Angels falling behind 13-10 as Game 3 looked headed for another five-setter, following Game 1 and Game 2, both of which went the distance.
Indeed, the Cool Smashers were starting to display their trademark resiliency and never-say-die chops. And they were looking primed to break the hearts of the hard-fighting Angels again—just as they did in the 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference Finals, when they overcame Petro Gazz’s 1-0 lead to win the title.
A Championship-Caliber Response for the Petro Gazz Angels
The Petro Gazz Angels, though, didn’t yield—not this time. They rallied with Van Sickle leading the charge and MJ Phillips, Aiza Pontillas, and Joy Dacoron providing crucial support to the Angels’ championship-clinching fourth set comeback.
Van Sickle sprayed crucial hits, Phillips displayed nerves of steel, and Dacoron and Pontillas chipped in big-time hits that gave the lead back to Petro Gazz. The 37-year-old former UST Growling Tigress also recorded the go-ahead kill that gave the Angels the lead for good at 19-18.
Suddenly at match point after outscoring Creamline 14-3, the Angels went to Jonah Sabete for the decisive hit—and she delivered, firing a laser to the backend of the Creamline defense that was just out of the reach of any Cool Smashers.
And, with that kill, what was once Mission Impossible became Mission Accomplished.
Domination turned into redemption. The Petro Gazz Angels were champions of the PVL.
2024–25 PVL All-Filipino Conference Gets a Fitting End
The 2024–25 PVL All-Filipino Conference got a fitting conclusion after six months—the longest by far in PVL history. Before the Angels’ title conquest, the Akari Chargers barged into the winners’ podium with a 25-15, 26-24, 26-24 sweep of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. The Chargers earned the bronze medal for their efforts, joining Creamline (silver) and Petro Gazz (gold) as the three top teams of the conference.
