Soltones regains old form for Petro
Games Tuesday (PhilSports Arena) 4 p.m. – Army Black Mamba vs Akari / 6:30 p.m. – PLDT vs Chery Tiggo
Petro Gazz spiker Grethcel Soltones has been longing to regain her old form and the confidence she lost after hurting her right knee a year ago.
Chances are she will get both under the constant prodding of new Angels coach Oliver Almadro.
Back with her familiar tenacity and power game, Soltones willed Petro Gazz to a 28-26, 25-18, 25-12 victory over Cignal yesterday that sent the team back in the thick of things in the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena.
The former league MVP was beastly in unloading a 14-point performance that lifted the Angels to their second straight victory after starting the season with a forgettable 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 defeat to Creamline at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last week.
And Soltones was quick to credit her resurgence to the unflinching faith shown by Almadro.
“Coming from injury, I was really having a hard time na maibalik ang dating confidence ko,” said the 27-year-old crisp-spiking Catmon, Cebu native. “But coach O (Almadro) always believed in me. Siya yung nag-sasabi kakayanin ko ito. Kaya nagpapa-salamat talaga ako kay coach,” she added.
Jonah Sabete had an all-around performance as she had seven hits to go with 11 digs.
Petro Gazz needed to outlast Cignal in an extended opening set that the former eventually took. Cignal fell to 1-3. In the battle of giants, F2 Logistics fought back from three match points as it stunned Creamline, 23-25, 2518, 16-25, 25-23, 16-14, to snatch a share of No. 2 with its latest victim on 3-1 cards.