The Petro Gazz Angels and the Creamline Cool Smashers suffered defeats against their respective opponents on the second day of the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Champions League.

The recently-crowned PVL All-Filipino Conference champions Petro Gazz Angels dropped their first game of the tournament against Taipei’s Kaohsiung Taipower, 15-25, 16-25, 25-19, 20-25.

Meanwhile, the Creamline Cool Smashers suffered a straight-set heartbreak against Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu VC, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17.

China’s BAIC Motor Volleyball Club completed a reverse sweep against Vietnam’s VTV Bien Dien Long An, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 15-10. Lastly, Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC made quick work of Australia’s Queensland Pirates, 25-10, 25-16, 25-12. 

Here’s everything you missed on the second game day of the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Champions League.

18

Kaohsiung Taipower limited their errors to just 18 in their victory against the Petro Gazz Angels, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 25-20. In comparison, the Manila-based squad recorded 28 errors.

Hsu Wan-yun led the Taiwan-based squad with 18 points in 16 attacks and two aces, while Peng Yu-rou contributed 11 points in 10 attacks. Tsai Yu-chun added 10 points.

For the Petro Gazz Angels, import Gia Day led the team with 18 points in 16 attacks, a block, and an ace, while Brooke Van Sickle contributed 13 points in 11 attacks and two aces.

After the match, Kaohsiung Taipower head coach Chang Li-Yun admitted that she was nervous to face her former mentor Koji Tsuzurabara, who is now the head coach of the Petro Gazz Angels. She said, “I was a little nervous because before, I was just a player, but I am a coach now. I trust my players to deliver in this game. My players need more communication and teamwork heading into the quarterfinals, so we will work on that, also serve, it needs to be stronger.”

The Petro Gazz Angels will face Hong Kong’s Hip Hing on April 22, at 7 pm. Whoever wins in the game joins Kaohsiung Taipower in the quarterfinals.

11

Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu Volleyball Club showed their dominance in the net as they recorded 11 block points in their 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 victory against the Creamline Cool Smashers. In comparison, the Manila-based squad only had three block points.

Tatyana Nikitina led the Zhetysu Volleyball Club with 14 points, all in attacks, while Karina Denisova and Valeriya Yakutina contributed 12 points apiece.

For the Creamline Cool Smashers, no player scored in double digits as Erica Staunton was limited to nine points in seven attacks and two blocks.

Zhetysu Volleyball Club head coach Marko Grsic revealed that they studied how the Creamline Cool Smashers played in the recently-concluded 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference. It also didn’t help for the Cool Smashers that their two imports – Anastassiya Kolomoyets and Anastasiya Kudryashova – played in the Kazakh Volleyball League.

He said, “Before we arrived in the Philippines, I watched the final matches of the Philippine championship. The foreign players in Creamline, they played in Kazakhstan. We already know the qualities and all the things that they can do. We were very, very prepared for this match.”

Zhetysu Volleyball Club will face Jordan’s Al Naser on April 22 at 1pm. If the Kazakhstan-based squad wins, it would send them to the quarterfinals alongside the Creamline Cool Smashers. If they lost, it would create a three-way tie in their pool with identical 1-1 win-loss records.

30

The team captain of the BAIC Motor Volleyball Club, Jin Ye, exploded for 30 points in the team’s 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 15-10 victory against Vietnam’s VTV Binh Dien Long An.

Jin recorded 24 attack points, four aces, and two blocks. Shan Lanfeng contributed 20 points in 14 attacks, four blocks, and two aces, while Lu Yufei added 14 points, all in attacks.

For the Binh Dien Long An, Vi Thi Nhu Quynh led the team with 22 points in 18 attacks, three blocks, and an ace, while team captain Tran Thi Thanh Thuy contributed 20 points in 18 attacks, a block, and an ace. Natalia Lijewska added 12.

After their victory, BAIC Motor Volleyball Club head coach Kuang Qi expressed his happiness at how the veteran Jin Ye played. He said through a translator, “[Jin] is playing well. I am happy with both her performance today and her leadership that she brings to the team. She’s older, and she did what she’s asked to do. I am familiar with the local teams here. I have been here before. But we have a younger team this year, and all we want to do is bring more experience back to China so that we don’t have any pressure on us.”

The VTV Binh Dien Long An emerged victorious in their matchup against Iran’s Saipa Tehran, which qualified them for the quarterfinals, joining the BAIC Motor Volleyball Club.

1:02

Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima QminC Volleyball Club only needed over an hour as they defeated Australia’s Queensland Pirates, 25-10, 25-16, 25-12.

Anyse Smith led Nakhon Ratchasima QminC Volleyball Club with 13 points in 12 attacks and an ace, while Eva Chantava contributed 12 points in nine attacks, two blocks, and an ace.

For the Queensland Pirates, no player scored in double digits as Lilyana Stanojevic and Scarlett Rudder were limited to just eight points apiece.

After the game, Smith said that it was a great game day for her and the team. She said, “I feel like our game, we came out on fire, we did what we needed to do, and we all believed in each other, and we got the victory. We just had a game plan from the start – to make sure that we all did our part and contributed what we could. We wanted to really focus on our serves today, and I feel like we did great serving, and it was just a great game to me.”

The Thailand-based squad served well in this match as they recorded nine aces, compared to just two of the Queensland Pirates.

Nakhon Ratchasima QminC Volleyball Club will face the PLDT High Speed Hitters on April 22, at 4 pm, to determine their final ranking in the pool round, as both teams are already qualified for the quarterfinals.