Gretsel Soltones of Petro Gazz Angels. – PVL PHOTO
Gretzel Saltons and Petro Gaz find themselves in the same situation as they search for a way to get back to their old ways.
For the Angels, it’s about re-entering the All-Philippine Conference Favorites conversation in the Premier Volleyball League, just one tournament removed from their latest title.
“Because all the teams are strong, we take it one game at a time,” said Soltones, who is also looking to re-establish himself after a promising career as one of the country’s top scorers was held back for a period. injuries.
Soltones finished with 14 points on Saturday as Petro Gaz looked to spearhead the team’s 28-26, 25-18, 25-13 win over Cignal at the Philsports Arena.
It was the second straight win for the Angels.
“We just kept the tempo of our game,” Soltones said after extending Remy Palma’s team lead with 15 points.
Palma had 10 points on various forms of offense while going with four blocks. Janelle Cheng tossed 19 great saves and Cien Cruz and Jelly Tempiatura finished with 14 great receptions and 11 great digs, respectively, for the Angels.
The win was a much-needed confidence shot for the Angels, coming up against a team they returned to last season in a beefed-up conference finals. After losing key players and hiring a new coach in Oliver Almadro, questions arose as to whether Petro Gaz could follow up their title run.
“This is a morale booster for us because to start our campaign we faced big teams: Creamline, Choco Mucho and then Cignal,” said Almadro.
However, the Angels are slowly finding their feet.
“I just told them we’ve got to take it one game at a time and what I told them, they’ve done it before when they played in the finals, they can do it again. So that’s them. I just motivated and guided them,” said Almadro.
Restoring confidence
Just as importantly, former San Sebastian star Soltones is regaining his attacking confidence under Almadro. 13 of her total points on Saturday came from kills.
The Angels held their own in the first set as they jumped out to a 24-21 lead with Cece Molina, Rachel Ann Daquis and Chai Troncoso pushing the HD Spikers to tie the set. Petro Gaz eventually took the opening set with a Soltones cross attack and a Gel Kayuna error in a 1-2 game.
The Angels then went on to coast with a 2-1 (win-loss) record.
Molina led the HD Spikers with 11 points and eight receptions, while Dakis added nine points and nine receptions. But Cignal, who was beating young team Akari, gave away too many free points with 22 errors.
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