Petro Gazz will get the first try to knock the only crown left on the head of Creamline when the cutthroat knockout quarterfinal of the 2025 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference begins on Monday.

The protagonists of the season-opening All-Filipino Conference rekindle their rivalry in an early meeting with the defending champion Cool Smashers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Angels head coach Gary Van Sickle knows what’s in store when his wards, led by her daughter and main Petro Gazz local scorer Brooke Van Sickle, meet the multi-titiled Cool Smashers.

“They’re a really tough team. So we’ve got to go back, watch some film, try to make some adjustments, and hope that we’re on our A-game, because knowing them, they’re going to bring theirs, so that’ll be another battle,” he said after the Angels built momentum heading into the playoffs by beating top contender PLDT, 25-21, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Petro Gazz and Creamline closed the two-round preliminaries tied with Cignal with 5-3 win-loss cards. The Cool Smashers secured the No. 4 seeding via superior match points, which pulled the Angels at No. 5 and the Super Spikers down to sixth seed.

However, seeding won’t matter anymore under the knockout format.

Brooke Van Sickle has stressed that everything will boil down to which team wants it the most.

Petro Gazz may have the momentum of back-to-back wins compared to Creamline, which wrapped the prelims with a five-set heartbreak to Cignal, but with just one game to decide their fate, it’s everybody’s ballgame.         

“Yeah, Creamline’s the type of team, it doesn’t matter what’s going on during the season, when it’s do or die, they play phenomenally, and we just know that they’re going to come out super energized and locked in, and they have mental toughness for sure,” said Brooke Van Sickle.

This is the second straight season that Creamline and Petro Gazz will face off in the import-laden tournament quarterfinal. 

The Cool Smashers bannered by American Erica Staunton eliminated the Angels in straight sets, got past Cignal in five sets in the semifinal before sweeping Akari in the winner-take-all title match last year.