Grethcel Soltones reminded her teammates to relax and enjoy Petro Gazz’s upcoming Game Three bout against Cignal in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference.
The Angels tied the series at 1-all following a five-set thriller of a victory against the HD Spikers, 25-22, 21-25 22-25, 26-24, 18-16, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday night.
Petro Gazz — who lost Game One via sweep — squeezed out stellar performances from Soltones and Myla Pablo to overcome a 1-2 set disadvantage in Game Two and send the series to a winner-take-all affair tomorrow.
With this, the 27-year-old outside hitter reminded the rest of the Angels to loosen up heading to the crucial match.
“Tulad nga po ng parati kong sinasabi sa teammates ko na ‘pag once iniisip natin na eto semis ‘to, mas mape-pressure kami,” shared the 2016 Open Conference Most Valuable Player, who played a crucial role in the turnaround victory.
“So parang think of it as a training para maging relaxed lang kasi the more you think lalo na nung unang game, kasi masyado akong focused nawawala ako. Dapat relax lang, enjoy, tapos makinig sa coaches.”
Soltones scored four points in a 5-2 rally that put the Angels ahead by three, 23-20, in the all-important fourth frame.
Then, when the HD Spikers took the lead and threatened to steal the game at 24-23, Soltones turned it up a notch on the defensive end — catching two consecutive powerful attacks from Rachel Daquis to save the Angels from elimination.
The former San Sebastian star also contributed when it mattered the most, scoring two of Petro Gazz’s last four points to help the team complete the comeback.
According to Soltones, the team was very eager to bounce back against Cignal after the deflating three-set loss they encountered in Game One.
“Siguro mas eager lang kaming manalo ngayon kasi nung last game talagang kaya naman namin makipagsabayan e,” said the 5-foot-7 outside hitter.
“So, yun nga, ang lagi naming problema endgame. So parating sinasabi ng mga coaches namin na ito, dapat composed, pukpok lang yun nga sabi ni Coach Jerry [Yee] tapos ayun, tapang.”
With a finals berth on the line, Soltones also vowed to give her all for Petro Gazz tomorrow.
