PVL Names Thea Gagate as Rookie of the Year

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles’ sensational young star Thea Gagate has just been declared the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Rookie of the Year winner following an official announcement on May 23, 2025.

In a statement posted by the PVL across their various social media pages, the towering middle blocker from the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers dominated the Rookie of the Year race after tallying a total of 148.1 points.

The determining factors to select the winner came from 50% statistical points, 30% media votes, and 20% from the team votes.

In just the statistical points category alone, Gagate proved to be the clear top choice after amassing 46.6 SPs while also garnering 65.7 points from the media and 35.8 points from the teams.

Gagate’s dominant numbers helped her edge Cignal’s Ishie Lalongisip, PLDT’s Angge Alcantara, and her teammate at ZUS Coffee, Shar Ancheta.

The first-ever PVL no.1 draft pick immediately brought a winning mentality to a struggling team that barely clinched a win since they entered as a formal competing franchise in the league.

In their first two years in the PVL, ZUS Coffee was hounded with a series of disappointing results and was even questioned if they were still willing to continue despite back-to-back losing seasons.

All they needed was a gem that can help turn things around for the franchise, and that answered prayer proved to be Gagate who was coming off a stellar UAAP campaign with DLSU.

Upon suiting up for the Thunderbelles during her rookie season, Gagate quickly let her impact be felt in the team and immediately became their defensive anchor in the middle.

As a result of her hard work, Gagate led the PVL in blocks as a rookie with 48 rejections while also helping the Thunderbelles achieve a better win-loss record.

During the recently concluded PVL All-Filipino Conference, Gagate’s determination finally paid off, as her two-way efficiency led the Thunderbelles to their first PVL Playoffs trip after escaping a grueling Play-In Stage.

Despite losing in the quarterfinals, advancing to the playoffs was still considered as a blessing for the whole franchise, and more is yet to come with their talented mix of young and veteran core.

As of now, Gagate is still spending the off-season with the Alas Pilipinas women’s national volleyball team and is set to compete in a series of international tournaments scheduled in the following weeks.