Soltones pours her heart out to lift PayMaya to deciding semis game

Grethcel Soltones isn’t someone to cower when the going went tough for PayMaya in a do-or-die game against BanKo in the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference.

With both teams having two sets apiece and tied 10-10 in the fifth set, Soltones looked as if she donned a heroine’s cape and called for her alter ego.

Soltones knew the moment the Perlas Spikers scored five points on them, their title aspirations will be over.

And when Lakia Bright got reprimanded with an error for PayMaya’s 11-10 lead, Soltones followed it up with two crosscourt kills for the High Flyers’ 13-11 buffer.

“I wanted those chances because I want to play a third game and I told myself that this team went through a lot and this isn’t the time to give up,” said Soltones in Filipino after their 28-26, 25-16, 25-27, 27-27, 15-12 win at Filoil Flying V Centre Wednesday.

“I told my teammates what coach Roger [Gorayeb] had always told us and that is to control our emotions and just focus on the task at hand.”

After getting called with another error, Bright managed to salvage another point for the Perlas Spikers to trim the deficit to 14-12.

That, however, was BanKo’s final reprieve as Soltones finished things off with a combination play down the sideline.

“I just put my heart in playing volleyball and I want to put on a good show for those who are supporting us,” said Soltones who had 22 points in the game as the High Flyers tie the three-game series at 1-1.