Petro Gazz Reclaims Its Glow: Angels Rise Again to Capture PVL Reinforced Crown

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by Misha Cruz

The Petro Gazz Angels are the champions of the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference
The Petro Gazz Angels are the champions of the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference. Photo: PVL Images.

The Petro Gazz Angels lit up the Big Dome on championship night, reclaiming the PVL Reinforced Conference crown with the kind of swagger and resilience that defined their season, pulling off a 21-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-20 win over the rising ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles. 

After weeks of injuries, lineup tweaks, and “are-they-still-contenders?” whispers, the Angels closed the year with a fiery four-set performance that doubled as both redemption and a reminder of who still rules the Reinforced stage.

What unfolded inside the Araneta Coliseum felt bigger than a typical championship night. Petro Gazz carried itself like a team reclaiming a legacy, showing a blend of composure, fire, and big-game maturity that set the tone from the moment the match settled in. Every rally had weight, every adjustment mattered, and the Angels met the moment with the confidence of a group built for pressure.

Lindsey Vander Weide came back like she never sprained anything in her life, dropping 23 big points with that familiar “try me” energy. Conference MVP Brooke Van Sickle did Brooke Van Sickle things: 20 points, nonstop hustle, and a confidence aura you could almost touch. And then there was Myla Pablo, timing her late-season explosion perfectly as she powered the Angels through the biggest rallies of the night.

Petro Gazz import Lindsey Vander Weide
Petro Gazz import Lindsey Vander Weide (11). Photo: PVL Images.

But the finals belonged to MJ Phillips.

After a quiet opening set, the Petro Gazz middle blocker transformed into a full-on problem for ZUS Coffee, hammering 17 markers, claiming Best Player of the Game, and later taking home the Finals MVP. Rookie setter Jules Tolentino also deserves all the flowers, 20 excellent sets in her first-ever finals. 

Petro Gazz needed every bit of that poise because ZUS Coffee didn’t come to participate; they came swinging. Import Anna DeBeer opened her first finals like a flamethrower, while AC Miner chipped in 16 to keep the Thunderbelles right in it. But Petro Gazz had that extra layer of composure only championship DNA gives you.

Every time ZUS Coffee surged, the Angels answered with something sharper: an MJ quick, a LVW bomb, a Van Sickle dig that reset the tone. By the fourth set, their experience took over, and their firepower proved too much to match.

This Reinforced crown becomes Petro Gazz’s third, adding to their 2019 and 2022 runs. Call it a pattern, call it fate, but the Angels insist this is not the end of a cycle. It’s the beginning of another ascent.

Petro Gazz's MJ Phillips spikes the ball against ZUS Coffee's AC Miner
Petro Gazz's MJ Phillips spikes the ball against ZUS Coffee's AC Miner. Photo: PVL Images.

ZUS Coffee didn’t win the title, but they won everyone’s attention. They played fearless, loud, and proud, and they’re surely coming back stronger.

But tonight? The sky belonged to the Angels.