Petro Gazz outlasts Creamline to win first PVL All-Filipino title

April 14 ------ BY taking down a dynasty, Petro Gazz met its destiny. The Angels are PVL champions for the third time in franchise history by dethroning Creamline in an instant four-set classic, 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, in Game Three of the 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. And after seven years, Petro Gazz finally has its hands on an elusive All-Filipino championship as the cherry on top of eight podium finishes second-most behind Creamline in the league’s eight-year run. 

Its latest crown jewel three years in the making completes a hat-trick of PVL titles for the Angels following their breakthrough title runs in the 2022 and 2019 editions of the import-laden Reinforced Conferences over Cignal and Creamline, respectively. An unrivaled three-year reign in All-Filipino play came to a seething end for the Cool Smashers as their 11th league title will have to wait. 

Not only did the Angels stop Creamline’s five-peat bid on its tracks but they also became only the fourth team in PVL history to win an import-less conference after Chery Tiggo (2021 Open) and defunct Balipure (2017 Open). Six of nine Open/All-Filipino conferences ever played in eight years were won by Creamline. Reigning conference MVP Brooke Van Sickle now has a PVL title and a first major league volleyball championship to her name in her near two-decade career. It was a title-clinching win that made Koji Tsuzurabara the first foreign head coach of a local PVL team to win a championship. 

Source: spin.ph