Wherever she goes, expect the same grit and mentality from Brooke Van Sickle.
That was the vow made by former Petro Gazz star as she joined the Nxled Chameleons where she will be reunited with former teammates for the coming Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season.
“At the end of the day, no matter what jersey or color, I’m still gonna give it my hundred percent, no matter what, and still try to be a team leader,” said the 27-year-old Van Sickle.
That kind of attitude has bore great rewards for Van Sickle, having won two teams titles, three Most Valuable Player awards, and one PVLPC MVP plum since her arrival in 2024.
“And try to still make long-term connections and friendships. So I’m just excited for these next couple of years,” added Van Sickle, who was joined by her former Petro Gazz stars MJ Phillips, Myla Pablo, and Jules Tolentino, to name a few, in the revamped Nxled camp.
Speaking about her new team, the 5-foot-7 outside hitter stressed that her transition was smooth under Italian mentor Ettore Guidetti, who brings solid experience from international competitions in Europe.
“So far, the practices were super awesome. They’re very awesome. It’s just really awesome to be able to have an Italian coach, and he has so much experience from around the world. To be able to bring that to the gym is awesome,” Van Sickle continued.
“I feel like this is probably the most prepared I’m gonna be for a conference, personally, just because of the amount of touches and just, like, the quality of practice is really good,” she added. “Especially, all the girls are absolutely pushing each other in the gym, so it’s really highly competitive.”
Though she was already suited for a new group, the Fil-Hawaiian hitter still couldn’t help but become emotional about her fruitful stint with Petro Gazz.
“It was very sad to hear the news, actually. Coming off a championship last conference to having a leave of absence, it was heartbreaking but understandable,” said Van Sickle.
“Again, super grateful for the Petro Gazz family, the Villavicencios, for having me come to the Philippines. It was really a great two years with them, and obviously it’s sad to see the team leaving, but I’m still super excited for this next journey with Nxled,” she added.
Other new faces for the team aside from Phillips, Pablo, Tolentino are Musa, Jonah Sabete, Djanel Cheng, Bang Pineda, Nicole Tiamzon, Jellie Tempiatura, and AA Adolfo.
“We’re just really grateful that the core decided to stick together. And by no means were we forced,” said the Battle Ground, Washington-born spiker.
“I know there were a lot of allegations being said, but we kind of all, as players, have a common goal that we make sure that the core sticks together and, you know, continue to build something special, especially with the Nxled group,” she added.
