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Category: Volleyball

  • A Power Shift in the PVL: Petro Gazz and PLDT own 2025

    A Power Shift in the PVL: Petro Gazz and PLDT own 2025

    What unfolded in the PVL in 2025 was more than a shift in champions—it was a reckoning. For nearly a decade, pink ruled Philippine women’s volleyball, with Creamline serving as both measuring stick and immovable force. 

     

    Championships felt routine, dominance institutional. But this closing year had other ideas. A convergence of timing, talent, and transformation finally loosened the grip of an old dynasty and crowned new standard-bearers, with Petro Gazz and PLDT splitting the season’s silverware and reshaping the league’s hierarchy.

     

    Creamline’s title drought—only the second full calendar year without a championship since 2017—was not so much a collapse as it was a sign of evolution around them. The Angels and the High Speed Hitters didn’t simply benefit from an opening; they forced one.

     

     At the center of that shift were Fil-foreign stars Brooke Van Sickle and Savi Davison, players once labeled as pure scorers who reintroduced themselves in 2025 as complete, championship-caliber leaders capable of defining tournaments.

     

    No team embodied reinvention more than Petro Gazz. From a franchise with just two import-dependent titles in six years, the Angels turned 2025 into a scrapbook of firsts. 

     

    Their breakthrough All-Filipino Conference run finally delivered a long-elusive import-less crown, built on early dominance, postseason poise, and a finals victory over Creamline that felt symbolic as much as it was decisive. 

     

    MJ Phillips and Van Sickle formed a devastating two-way tandem, while the title also marked a historic moment on the bench, with Koji Tsuzurabara joining rare company among foreign coaches to win a PVL championship.

     

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    The Reinforced Conference told a different, yet equally defining story. Petro Gazz stumbled early, recalibrated midstream, and surged just in time—knocking out Creamline to end the Cool Smashers’ 19-tournament podium streak before finishing off ZUS Coffee’s Cinderella run.

     

     By year’s end, Van Sickle had etched her name alongside Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos as a three-time conference MVP, while Phillips emerged as the quiet constant, a two-time Finals MVP anchoring both title runs.

     

    PLDT’s rise, meanwhile, was about release. Seven years of near-misses and unfulfilled promise evaporated in a span of weeks as the High Speed Hitters finally learned how to finish. 

     

    Their preseason sweep at the PVL on Tour hinted at what was coming, but it was the resilience shown against Creamline in the semifinals—and the composure to survive Chery Tiggo’s late charge in the finals—that announced PLDT’s arrival as champions. Mika Reyes’ long-awaited Finals MVP and Kath Arado’s history-making libero double cemented a breakthrough that felt earned, not accidental.

     

    The momentum carried straight into the PVL Invitational, where PLDT once again refused to blink, turning back international challengers and sealing a second title in quick succession. 

     

    Davison’s emergence as conference MVP capped a personal leap that mirrored her team’s ascent, while PLDT’s back-to-back triumphs reframed the franchise from perennial contender to certified winner.

     

    In the end, 2025 wasn’t about Creamline falling—it was about others finally rising high enough to meet and surpass the standard they set. 

     

    Petro Gazz and PLDT didn’t just claim trophies; they claimed space, identity, and legitimacy. The league exits the year no longer defined by a single shade of pink, but by a deeper, richer palette—proof that the PVL’s next era has well and truly begun.

     

     

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  • Eya Laure starts 2026 with a bang, finds new home with Choco Mucho after PVL hiatus

    Eya Laure starts 2026 with a bang, finds new home with Choco Mucho after PVL hiatus

    While fireworks welcomed the New Year across the country, the loudest spark came from the volleyball world—Eya Laure is officially back. 

     

    After a year away from the Premier Volleyball League spotlight, one of the sport’s most magnetic stars opened 2026 by signing with Choco Mucho, finally putting an end to months of speculation surrounding her future.

     

    Laure’s return marks more than just a transfer; it signals a reset. Once viewed as the long-term centerpiece of Chery Tiggo, the former UST standout helped lift the Crossovers into relevance, steering them to back-to-back semifinal finishes early in her professional career. 

     

    Those runs cemented her reputation as a franchise player capable of changing a team’s trajectory almost overnight.

     

    Momentum, however, stalled as Laure stepped away from club play to answer the national team’s call. 

     

    Her absence during the Reinforced Conference was followed by a contract buyout ahead of the 2024–25 All-Filipino Conference, a move that activated a non-compete clause and effectively sidelined her from PVL action for an entire year. 

     

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    It was a quiet stretch domestically—but not internationally.

     

    On the global stage, Laure remained anything but idle. She became a key figure in Alas Pilipinas’ recent success, helping the national team secure a historic silver medal at the AVC Nations Cup and back-to-back bronze finishes in the SEA V.League. 

     

    The performances reminded fans and rivals alike that Laure’s game had only matured during her time away.

     

    Now with Choco Mucho, Laure steps into a dramatically reshaped roster—and a familiar circle. She could reunite with longtime UST teammate Sisi Rondina, while also sharing the court with former collegiate foes Maddie Madayag and Deanna Wong, the same Ateneo stars who once denied UST a UAAP crown in Season 81.

     

     Additions Jaila Atienza, Alina Bicar, and the returning Caitlin Viray further signal the Flying Titans’ intent to reload.

     

    The move comes on the heels of Choco Mucho’s decision not to renew several veteran contracts, underscoring a clear shift in direction. With Laure at the center of this new chapter, the Flying Titans are betting that the New Year’s biggest bang is only the beginning.

     

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