Van Sickle powers Nxled’s unbeaten PVL start

Brooke Van Sickle has returned from a shoulder injury in commanding form, helping Nxled open the 2026 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference Siklab Series with two victories while earning unanimous PVL Press Corps Player of the Week honors.

The Nxled star said the league’s competitive level continues to rise as stronger and more concentrated rosters make each matchup increasingly difficult to predict.

“I think as PVL continues with its years, I do think that the competition is getting significantly harder. Teams, I mean, now there are only nine. So I think teams are more condensed and they have better players, more talent, especially with the draft coming in,” said Van Sickle.

The Chameleons opened their campaign last Tuesday with a convincing 25-16, 25-20, 25-18 sweep of the stacked PLDT High Speed Hitters.

Nxled followed that victory by surviving Farm Fresh in five sets Saturday, 25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12, to improve to 2-0.

Van Sickle had been sidelined during the PVL On Tour and Invitational Conference because of her shoulder injury, but the three-time league Conference MVP showed little rust upon returning to action.

She finished with 11 points and eight excellent digs despite playing only two sets against PLDT.

Against Farm Fresh, Van Sickle raised her level with 20 points built on 14 attacks and six kill blocks while contributing 16 excellent digs and nine excellent receptions.

Her all-around performance helped the Chameleons withstand the Foxies’ bid for a reverse sweep after Farm Fresh rallied from two sets down.

Those performances earned Van Sickle unanimous selection as PVL Press Corps Player of the Week for Oct. 10 to 17 in voting among print and online journalists covering the league.

She beat out Nxled teammate Gel Cayuna, Creamline’s Jema Galanza and Jia De Guzman, Choco Mucho’s Eya Laure and Sisi Rondina-Rosales, Farm Fresh’s Mylene Paat-Rezanova and Capital1’s Bella Belen for the weekly recognition.

Belen was among the week’s standout performers after exploding for a career-high 35 points in Capital1’s five-set victory over Akari.

“Yeah, it’s really good to be back. I mean, no athlete likes to be injured, right? So, during the time, I mean, it was really tough at moments, but I had the support of my coaching staff and our teammates, too, and management and ownership,” Van Sickle said.

Her return gives Nxled another major weapon after the Chameleons reached the Invitational Conference Finals without her, providing the team with added firepower as it attempts to build on that breakthrough run.

As the Sports Vision-organized PVL marks its 10th year, Van Sickle expects the competition to become even tougher as teams settle into their rosters and the conference progresses.

“A lot of teams have their rosters built. So I think it’s gonna definitely be very hard and very unpredictable. As we’ve already seen, there’s already been a lot of five-setters. So, as I said, it’s gonna be a dogfight for everybody and be very unpredictable, in my opinion,” Van Sickle said.

Van Sickle and the Chameleons will try to extend their unbeaten start to three matches when they face winless Galeries Tower on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.