IN A STUNNING move that could directly affect her chances of making it into the final roster of the women’s national team, the BaliPure Purest Water Defenders have decided not to allow their prize hitter in Cebuana Grethcel Soltones to suit up in the Clash of Heroes event today at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The fund-raising competition, which will divide the 25-man pool into two teams for the game, will serve as one of the basis of the coaches for the final roster of the national team.
Water Defenders team manager Paolo Turno said in a statement that was sent to Cebu Daily News on Sunday morning that they were not “formally informed” by the organizers for the participation of Soltones in the event.
“Had we been informed earlier by the organizers of Clash of Heroes of their intent to ask Ms. Soltones to join the said event, then we could have made the necessary adjustments in our preparation for our games in the Philippine Volleyball League,” Turno said.
Turno shared that BaliPure will be playing on Tuesday with Soltones looking to help her team rebound after suffering their first loss in four games this season against the Perlas Spikers in the Premier Volleyball League last Saturday.
“We hope that LVPI, the organizer of Clash of Heroes, understands and respects the decision of our team. We sincerely would like to assure them that BaliPure is continuously committed to providing support to Philippine Volleyball in as much as it pragmatically can,” he added.
Aside from Soltones, other players who were not permitted to play in the event by their respective teams were multi-titled volley belle Alyssa Valdez, Elaine Kasilag and Myla Pablo, who are currently nursing injuries.