MINGLANILLA – After four attempts, Julia Coronel finally secured her first win as a pro, steering Galeries Tower to a tight straight-set victory over Capital1 in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Saturday night.
Not only did the 2024 PVL Draft third overall pick help the Highrisers secure their first win of the tournament, but she also played a key role in ending the team’s harrowing 14-game losing streak that began in the 2024 All-Filipino Conference.
Coronel said that the hard-fought, 26-24, 25-14, 25-23 win was a testament to Galeries’ dedication and perseverance, emphasizing how the team worked hard to end their drought.
“First, I’m just really thankful kay God and I’m just super happy that we finally got our first win. And we’re really hoping to get many, many more wins this conference and siyempre paghihirapan talaga namin ‘yun,” said the La Salle product.
“I think ‘yung tiyaga, tyinaga lang talaga namin talaga bawat puntos. We worked hard for every point and most importantly, we worked as a team. ‘Yun din ‘yung winork on namin, ‘yung connection namin and jelling namin and we’re glad na na-translate namin ‘yun.”
(C) PVL Images
Coronel’s strong performance from the service line was a key factor in the Highrisers’ dominance against the Solar Spikers – particularly at the start of the second frame, where she scored five of the team’s first six points on serves.
She finished with nine points to go along with 10 excellent sets in the one-hour, 41-minute contest, as the team improved to 1-4 in the standings.
The Alas Pilipinas standout attributed her stellar performance from the line to the coaching staff’s game plan, humbly stating that she simply executed it to the best of her abilities.
“Well, may instructions din kasing binibigay ‘yung coaches on where to target and sinusunod ko lang din ‘yun and siyempre to the best of my ability,” said the 24-year-old scoring playmaker.
Meanwhile, Galeries head coach Lerma Giron expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Coronel and the rest of her players for executing the game plan flawlessly.
“Gumana ‘yung game plan namin, talagang naging team player sila at sumunod sila sa game plan namin. Naging masunurin sila ngayon, saka they just enjoyed the game and enjoyed Cebu.”
