As the on-court celebration of the Bali Pure Purest Water Defenders had just ended, the relief of finally winning a championship after two long years was visible on the face of Grethcel Soltones.
“Ang tagal na rin no?” she told one reporter as she walked through the hallway of the Filoil Flying V Centre.
“PLDT pa ‘yung huli. Two years ago na yun.”
The last two years have been excruciating for Soltones and coach Roger Gorayeb.
After winning the Reinforced Conference of the 2015 V-League, the two experienced numerous heartbreaking setbacks with the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags.
Pegged as favorites to win it all during her last two seasons at Recto, the Lady Stags were twice unprecedentedly disarmed of a thrice-to-beat advantage in indoor volleyball.
Still, Gorayeb continued to believe that Soltones could be an alpha on a team, tapping her to join him in Bali Pure after Soltones’ brief stint with Foton early this year.
“Alam mo naman si Grethcel e, kahit sigawan ko, makikinig at makikinig sa akin yan,” shared Gorayeb, who had even benched Soltones during one of San Sebastian’s games in her senior year.
Seven months after she last donned a Lady Stag jersey, the 21-year old was able to get the monkey off her back, leading Bali Pure to their breakthrough championship.
And she was able to do it by keeping a close ear on every word Gorayeb said.
During one play in the pivotal third set of Game Two, Bali Pure were just holding a solitary point lead, 24-23.
“Nung third set, hinabol kami, sabi ko, simple lang yan, pag dumating dito, i-drop mo,” Gorayeb recalled.
“Siguro, yun nga sabi ni coach, hindi naman sa kanya manggagagaling yung puso mo sa paglalaro. Sasabihin niya lang, depende na sa ‘yo kung makikinig ka,” added Soltones, who finished with 21 points.
With one soft touch, Soltones was able to get the ball past Desiree Dadang and Kai Nepomuceno to give a 2-1 advantage that sucked all the momentum away from Pocari Sweat. Instantaneously, Soltones pointed to Gorayeb, who gave her a huge hug.
Though still overcome with emotion, Soltones — who was named as the Finals MVP — summed up her two-year odyssey perfectly.
“Hindi biro yung napagdaanan namin.”
