CANDON CITY — Grethcel Soltones will miss Akari's scheduled games this week in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference to rest what doctors diagnosed as a right hand strain.
The 29-year-old spiker was in street clothes with a bandaged in her affected hand while Akari played a grudge match against Creamline on Saturday in Ilocos Sur.
READ: Full strength Creamline smashes Akari in straight sets
Her absence proved costly as the Chargers lost in straight sets, 24-26, 17-25, 16-25, against the same team which beat them in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference finals.
From bad to worse
Soltones said her injury may have been aggravated when she tried to play through the pain in Akari's first two games of the season, which the team both won.
It began back in Akari’s preseason training camp in Japan last October where she first tweaked her right hand during one of their team sessions.
Shrugging it off as a minor discomfort, Soltones carried on with the rest of the camp schedule. Back home, she suited up straight away in the Chargers’ opening-day match against Galeries Tower. She dished out 16 points to help her team win.
Five days later, the team played against ZUS Coffee. While she still put out a solid 10-piece game, Soltones felt significant discomfort in her right hand late in the fourth set when the match was tied at 23-all.
Soltones comeback soon?
It was after the game and following doctor's advice that she decided to sit out this week's games, aware that she has to be more careful in light of a long conference ahead.
Soltones said the timetable for her return would be around one to three weeks.
With three more matches for Akari before the Christmas break, she has her sights set on the earliest playdate for a potential comeback at Nov. 30 against Farm Fresh.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
