February 12 ------ PETRO Gazz jammed Cignal’s bid for a perfect sweep of the 2024 PNVF Champions League with a 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 spoiler win in championship match at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. The two-time Premier Volleyball League (PVL) champions captured their first title since the 2022 Reinforced Conference, which also was against the HD Spikers.
Brooke Van Sickle, the tournament's MVP and best outside spiker, capped a pristine debut with 20 points on 18 attacks and two blocks topped by the title-clinching hit in the final set. "It’s a build up on our confidence. Moving forward, it just shows us that we are able to do it. As long as we have our minds set, work hard every single day, we can get stuff done and I’m very proud our win. Sweeping Cignal in three (sets), that was tough. To be able to have the mental focus to do that, that’s huge," Van Sickle said.
Similarly making his Petro Gazz debut campaign in the preseason tilt is newly-minted Japanese coach Koji Tsuzurabara, who embraced their 'challengers' tag in the face of an erstwhile unbeaten Cignal side. "Now, my players understand my volleyball a little bit. We still need all-around practice but this time, they gave me the best performance. I just told them before the game, you are the challengers. My team was the challenger,” said Tsuzurabara.
After five successive wins in as many games in the road to the final, Cignal absorbed its first and most difficult loss in the last hurdle to championship gold — an emphatic sweep at the hands of its PVL rivals.
Source: spin.ph
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