Fresh from her European tour, NCAA MVP made her Shakey’s V-League Open Conference debut and powered the Bali Pure Purest Water Defenders to a thrilling five-set triumph over the National University Lady Bulldogs 18-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Trading set wins in the first four frames, both squads entered the fifth set with momentum swinging wildly to both sides. NU managed an 11-8 lead thanks to timely blocks. But, as Jaja Santiago rotated to the back row, Bali Pure pounced on National U, winning four of the next five points for a 13-12 lead following a Jorelle Singh attack error. Singh pulled through and tied the set at 13 but the returning Soltones sealed the win with thunderous back-to-back hits.
Soltones finished with 23 points on 22 for 62 attacking. Former UAAP Finals MVP Amy Ahomiro pitched in 14 points for Bali Pure who constantly rotated their players.
“You could really feel the energy of the girls coming into the fourth and fifth set. We could tell we had momentum. We really tightened up our service receive. That was really key,” said playing head coach Charo Soriano.
Soriano added that the win gave her team confidence moving forward which is important since they will still be playing without UAAP MVP Alyssa Valdez on Wednesday.
“It gave us a huge boost moving forward. For such a short tournament, you really can’t afford to lose two matches this early,” Soriano said. “Hopefully, we can build on this.”
Jorelle Singh topped the Lady Bulldogs with her own 23 points off 22 for 49 attacking. Jaja Santiago added 20 points built on 11 attacks, seven blocks, and two aces.
Bali Pure (1-1) will take on the Iriga City Lady Oragons (1-1) on Wednesday 4:00 pm. at the FilOil Flying V Centre. NU (1-2) also has Iriga next Monday, 1:00 pm.
The Scores:
Bali Pure (3) – Soltones 22, Ahomiro 14, Marciano 6, Gervacio 5, De Jesus 5, Tajima 4, Soriano 2, Ferrer 1, Tan 0, Eroa (L), Lazaro (L)
NU (2) – Singh 23, Santiago 20, Sato 10, Paran 7, Doromal 7, Nabor 3, Valdez (L)
