"We have to be better than our best every day and every game," says coach Oliver Almadro.
Petro Gazz Angels’ Grethcel Soltones was seen flaunting her “game face” at one point in the fourth frame of their match against the Akari Chargers in the PVL All-Filipino Conference on Thursday.
Everyone knows what that meant: Soltones was going for the jugular. It was understandable, especially after the Angels botched what could have been a sweep with a third-set meltdown.
She scored back-to-back aces to give the team a 16-8 lead before MJ Phillips, Remy Palma, and Nicole Tiamzon put the finishing touches to the victory at the PhilSports Arena.
Behind Soltones’ 20 points, the Angels hacked out a 25-15, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16 win.
The mean face turned into a big smile after the game. When asked about it, Soltones said they simply didn’t want to succumb to complacency.
“Kasi siyempre ayaw namin maging kampante. Pag nabigyan namin ng momentum kabila, kami pa madadali,” she said.
The win gave Petro Gazz a safe passage to the semifinals as it is now tied at No. 2 with F2 Logistics Cargo Movers with identical 5-2 win-loss cards.
Soltones is not letting this win get ahead of them.
“Nire-remind namin bawat isa na hindi porke nanalo tayo today tapos na laban. Mahaba-habang laban pa to,” she said.
Coach Oliver Almadro couldn’t agree more. While they have reached their “realistic goal,” they still want to exceed expectations.
“Yes, we’re happy but we should not be stopping,” he said. “Importante is we have to be better than our best every day and every game.”