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Take it from Petro Gazz’ Japanese coach Koji Tsuzurabara. The team that won the recently-concluded PVL All-Filipino Conference was “entirely different” from the squad that took third place in the same tournament the previous season. Yet the nucleus was nearly identical with 16 holdovers and draftees Donnalyn Paralejas and AA Adolfo the only additions.
Tsuzurabara, 60, meant the difference was in mental toughness. “We had no big changes from last season but this time, we were more solid,” noted team manager Dave Dichupa. “We believed we could win. Brooke (Van Sickle) and MJ (Philips) were our best scorers but Remy (Palma) was our heart and soul. Remy kept our team together. After we lost Game 2 in the finals, we didn’t practice, we just talked, had a meeting. We played badly but it still took Creamline five sets to beat us. If we played well in Game 3, we knew we would win.”
Dichupa said the All-Filipino was a long and difficult road. “We started in November and took a break from Dec. 15 to Jan. 17,” he said. “During the break, Brooke underwent arthroscopic surgery in the knee. Dr. Mark Castro performed the operation on a Sunday as we had to do it quickly so Brooke could go back to the US and return to play when the conference restarted. Throughout the tournament, Koji reminded the players that we were just the challengers when we went up against Creamline, Choco Mucho, PLDT, Cignal and the top teams. It was his way of motivating the players to exert extra effort.”
Van Sickle and Philips were the backbone of Petro Gazz’ attack. “PLDT was after Brooke and we got MJ back after we allowed her to play in Korea even if she was still under contract with us,” said Dichupa. “Our setters were steady with Djanel Cheng, Chie Saet and Donnalyn. Our middle blockers were tough with MJ, Remy, Ranya (Musa) and Joy (Dacoron) then we had strong hitters with Brooke, Myla (Pablo), Jonah (Sabete) and Aiza (Pontillas).” The Angels’ depth was significant, too, with Adolfo, Ethan Arce, Jelle Tempiatura, Kecelyn Galdones, Mich Morente (recovering from surgery), Nicole Tiamzon and Babylove Barbon.
“We’re lucky with Koji,” said Dichupa. “We looked for a new coach last year and Koji was recommended. He has coached nearly 40 years in Japan, Vietnam, Chinese-Taipei, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. His English may not be the best but the girls understand him. They know his hand signals. We understand the Rebisco group nearly signed him before the pandemic but he chose not to come because there was conflict in our volleyball community then. We got him at the right time.”
Winning the All-Filipino crown was a breakthrough as it was Petro Gazz’ first in the conference. The Angels took two previous championships in the Reinforced edition. In 14 conferences since 2018, Petro Gazz has bagged three titles and finished thrice as runner-up. “We owe this to our team owner Tito Chito Villavicencio, his sons Ricky and Raffy and the entire Villavicencio family for the undying support,” said Dichupa. “We’re looking forward to playing in the AVC Women’s Champions League starting Sunday, then the PVL draft in June and the new season in July.”
