Brooke Van Sickle had to shake off the nerves in order to help Petro Gazz open its 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference on a positive note.
Brooke Van Sickle may have already experienced the Philippine brand of volleyball in the PNVF Champions League, but she still felt a sense of nervousness in her PVL debut on Tuesday.
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter, who turned heads with her MVP performance in the preseason tilt, had to shake off the jitters in order to help Petro Gazz in sweeping Strong Group Athletics in the 2024 All-Filipino Conference curtain-raiser.
"Of course, you know, there’s always gonna be butterflies. It’s the start of the conference," bared Van Sickle.
The Filipino-American sensation was far from her prolific form but still made her presence felt on both offense and defense, producing seven points and 10 digs.
The Angels were also far from their efficient form as a unit after coughing out 27 errors in three sets.
With such an uncharacteristic performance, Van Sickle chalked it up to jitters.
"I would say I feel like we’re a little tense and not really flowing as well. Probably first game jitters, a little bit," she shared.
Still, a win is a win for the Angels, who now seek to address their lapses in preparation for their match against the Choco Mucho Flying Titans on Tuesday, February 27.
"We made a lot of errors and hopefully, more training will help decrease that moving forward. Hopefully, we’ll do better," Van Sickle said.
The 6 p.m. game against the Flying Titans will be airing on One Sports, One Sports+, and the Pilipinas Live app.