Petro Gazz Angel Brooke Van Sickle. PVL Media BureauANTIPOLO — Petro Gazz ace Brooke Van Sickle bared her birthday wish as she celebrated her special day on Saturday, March 22.
Van Sickle, who turned 27 exactly on this date, said that she just wanted her team to come out and "play as themselves."
Her wish got granted as the Angels emerged with the Antipolo win, 25-19, 25-13, 28-26, to even their best-of-three quarterfinals series against Zus Coffee in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference at the Ynares Center.
Aside from Van Sickle, three other Angels breached twin-digit scoring — MJ Phillips, Myla Pablo, and Jonah Sabete — who all dropped 11 points each.
Playmaker Chie Saet steered that offensive showing with 18 excellent sets.
No matter what the result would be, Van Sickle said she'll be proud of the team as long as they put up a fight.
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"My birthday wish was for the team to come out and play as themselves, just to have good energy," said Van Sickle after the match.
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"I told the team after last game that if we play our game, we're fighting and we still end up losing, I'm still proud of team, because just to put the effort out there 100% and just to enjoy the game is all I really want from this team."
Her wish was somehow a reflection of their Game 1 defeat at the hands of the Thunderbelles.
"It sucks. No one likes losing. I guess we were more pressured as a team because we knew that wasn't how we played, and our energy was low. It was just all around not a good outcome and result of our performance," she said.
"Zus did a great job, they're a tough team, and I thought, like Creamline, they're one of the better defensive teams in the PVL right now. Just to be able to bounce back from that is huge."