By MARK REY MONTEJO
National University is not resting its laurel despite concluding the elimination round as the No. 1 team in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament.
Finishing with a 12-2 record and armed with a twice-to-beat advantage into the semifinals, the Lady Bulldogs are far from satisfied with their performance as they thrive to level up their game and complete their bid of winning back-to-back titles.
NU spiker Bella Belen said the Bulldogs should play a notch higher and avoid a sense of complacency despite being tagged as the favorites to win the series versus the Far Eastern University.
“Siguro, personally, hindi pa masyado, like paunti-unti, ganun naman talaga kahit sino samin, kumbaga, kailangan kada game nagi-improve kami kahit konti, lalo na’t papasok na ng Final Four,” said Belen.
“Kung kaya pa naming ipakita na bago every game, and mas taasan pa ‘yong paglalaro namin… ganun naman kami lagi, ‘di kami nasa-satisfy sa naging performance namin,” she added.
Belen and Alyssa Solomon steadied NU’s ship anew, unleashing 26 and 23 points, respectively, to score a hard-fought 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 15-9 triumph over the Angge Poyos and Reg Jurado-led University of Santo Tomas last Sunday, April 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It marked the fifth consecutive win of the Lady Bulldogs against the Golden Tigresses which started in the second round of Season 86.
“‘Di naman kasi kami nagsasawa mag-improve eh,” Solomon said
“Parang lagi kaming dalang standard sa mga sarili namin na every single day nagi-improve kami and ‘di ‘yong nagi-stuck kami,” she added.
Semis schedules are yet to be released and are expected to begin in the first week of May.
