How much has Brooke Van Sickle grown since making her PVL debut with the Petro Gazz Angels in February last year?
When Brooke Van Sickle was in the process of fulfilling her dream to play pro volleyball in the Philippines, a small world helped her get acquainted with the local volleyball scene and its highly passionate fanbase.
A former NCAA Division 1 player in the United States, one of the connections that helped Van Sickle get familiar with Philippine volleyball was none other than Lindsey Vander Weide, Petro Gazz’s title-winning import in 2022 and Van Sickle’s former teammate at the University of Oregon.
According to Van Sickle, it was her and former F2 Logistics star Kalei Mau who gave her a glimpse of Philippine volleyball through their respective social media postings.
“I kind of vaguely remember when [Vander Weide] was actually here, I would see, like her Snapchat stories and everything and she was just…I just recall her being like, ‘Wow, the Philippines loves volleyball!’,” Van Sickle told The GAME in a recent interview. “Like it’s insane! Like she’s never experienced this anywhere before in her life! And so I was just like, ‘Oh, you know, like, we’ll see.’”
Vander Weide was also responsible for providing Van Sickle’s contact information to Petro Gazz, which ultimately fulfilled the Fil-Hawaiian’s Philippine volleyball dreams. As expected, it was also Vander Weide who gave Van Sickle an initial impression of the championship-winning club.
“She was just like ‘Yeah, you’re going to love them, like everyone’s so cool and everyone’s so fun!’” Van Sickle said, recalling their conversation. “She definitely misses it, and I hope she can come back here sometime, but yeah, she just talked highly of everyone, especially Myla [Pablo].”
Brooke Van Sickle eventually debuted for the Petro Gazz Angels for the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference, scoring a modest seven points in their season-opening win against the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles (then known as Strong Group Athletics).
Since then, a whole year had passed since that first game on February 20 last year at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
‘Don’t pinch me!’
Since debuting for the Petro Gazz Angels, Brooke Van Sickle has established her reputation as one of the PVL’s most feared hitters, which is backed up by her Most Valuable Player plum in last year’s All-Filipino wars.
Van Sickle is now in the midst of her third PVL conference with Petro Gazz but still remains in awe of her opportunity to be playing in the Philippines.
“Just looking back at it, I’m still very grateful, and I still have like, that excitement to be here, just like how I first got here on day one. And still be able to develop the friendships that I’ve made through the volleyball here is awesome,” an enthusiastic Van Sickle reflected in a follow-up chat on Thursday, still at the Philsports Arena.
“And my teammates, they’re like a ray of sunshine, like they’re all so funny and also like warm and everything. It’s just like, we love to crack jokes, and like I could come in, maybe I might be having a bad day, but you know, my teammates are there for me to pick me up and everything,” added Van Sickle, who joined a Petro Gazz core that includes veterans like Pablo, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Remy Palma, and Djanel Cheng.
From viewing Vander Weide and Mau’s social media posts, Van Sickle has gotten a first-hand view of the highly passionate Philippine volleyball fanbase, which already includes provincial play dates in Laguna and Ilocos Sur.
Reality often disappoints, but in Van Sickle’s case, the Philippines she’s experiencing isn’t too different from the one she used to see from her social media feeds. If anything, she thinks it’s even better than what she used to see as a spectator all the way in the States.
“Being able to finally live it, and it’s everything, it’s living up to the dreams. Like I was obviously dreaming about it, like mentally visualizing ‘Oh, I wonder how it’s like?,” said the Fil-Hawaiian hitter. “And it’s been amazing, the whole experience, and again, grateful to be able to have what I got here…I got my little fan club and they’re super, super…I love them and they’re super supportive!”
Van Sickle traces her Filipina roots to Ilocos Sur, which she was able to visit with Petro Gazz’s game against the Farm Fresh Foxies last November 23 in the Candon City Arena. Much like the Philippine volleyball scene, this was a place that the 26-year-old used to hear about from her mother and grandfather as a youngster in Hawaii.
“I feel like [the overall experience] has been amazing, and to be able to you know? Get in touch with my family too. It has been the greatest full-circle moment of my life, so it’s just…I’m living a dream right now. So don’t pinch me! I don’t want to wake up,” she said.
Championship aspirations
Up next for Brooke Van Sickle and the Petro Gazz Angels will be the qualifying rounds in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference, where they will enter as the second seed after finishing the preliminary rounds with a 10-1 record.
And as she continues to live out her dreams, Van Sickle remains as driven as ever to win an elusive PVL title with the Angels.
“But it’s easier said than done, I mean that’s everyone’s goal, every team, and you know? Things can happen. Sometimes you win games, sometimes you lose games,” she reflected. “It’s just how you react to it, I think it goes a long way…We just have to take it day by day.”
Petro Gazz has been on a roll for the All-Filipino wars, going on a nine-game winning streak after an early-season loss to their longtime rivals in the Creamline Cool Smashers.
“We’ll see what kind of magic we can produce, and hopefully we’ll put ourselves in a really good position. And we’ll just see, because I don’t have a crystal ball and I can’t tell the future, so yeah it’s going to be difficult,” Van Sickle concluded.
Images courtesy of the Premier Volleyball League.