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Brooke Van Sickle, left, and the Petro Gazz Angels during a loss to Taipower in the AVC Champions League.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines–Taipower simply watched the Petro Gazz Angels fall under the weight of their errors to prevail, 25-15, 25-16, 19-25, 25-20, on Monday at the AVC Women’s Champions League at the Philsports Arena.
Hsu Wan-Yun and Peng Yu-Rou capitalized on most of these miscues and powered the visitors to the crossover quarterfinals following their straight-sets win over Hong Kong’s Hip Hing Women’s Volleyball Team the day before. Milana Day struck the Taiwanese floor with 16 attacks out of 18 points while Brooke Van Sickle had 13 points, highlighted by 11 attacks and two aces for the Angels, who were visibly far from the championship form that propelled them to the PVL All-Filipino title just a week back. Petro Gazz coach Koji Tsuzurabara, Gia Day, and Brooke Van Sickle after falling to Taipower.
#AVCChampionsLeague | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/32yBbSKH0s — INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) April 21, 2025 “The championship wasn’t too long ago.
I felt we celebrated it, I can say we’ve already moved on when this (AVC) tournament happened,” said Van Sickle. “That was the last chapter and we’re now focusing on these games. We just came out a little bit flat,” added the reigning PVL MVP after they dismantled the favored Creamline Cool Smashers in their best-of-three titular series.
Hsu tallied 18 points, including 16 attacks and Peng contributed 11 for Taipower. Staring at a quick ending, the Angels suddenly rose from two sets down to secure Set 3 by pouncing on Taipower’s mistakes. They managed to create the separation through successive errors by Lin Cai-Zhen and Hsu, which Van Sickle capitalized on, 21-17, with an energetic cross.
Van Sickle and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas conspired with Joy Dacoron that pushed the Angels closer before another Van Sickle ace capped the set. Taipower regrouped in Set 4 and quickly gained the upper hand through the heroics of Huang Ching-Hsuan and Hsu. Peng Yu-Rou unloaded a piercing crosscourt strike and Huang’s running smash opened an eight-point advantage for Taipower made much easier by Day’s back-to-back miscues.
“Taipower, they’re a team that can push you physically, mentally. They’re really good at what they do. They’re very disciplined.
That’s what we can learned from them,” said Van Sickle. MJ Phillips tried to save the Angels with a rushing spike and kill block, 22-18, that eventually went to naught when Remy Palma misfired her serve at match point. “We have to stick together.
I think the biggest thing is we played the sport because we love it, we want to have fun right? But I feel today we didn’t have fun,” said Van Sickle. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .
“Tonight, we will watch film and shake it off. The first game is over, learn from it and move on,” she added. The Angels must now defeat Hip Hing on Tuesday to remain in the hunt for a quarterfinal spot.
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