The National University (NU) confirmed that the University of Santo Tomas will not go home Sunday night with the same feelings as they did during the 86th season of the UAAP Women's Volleyball Tournament. Bela Belen made that clear even before the Lady Bulldogs set foot on the floor of the legendary Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After the Lady Bulldogs suffered their first loss to Santo Tomas, 23-25, 25-, Belen said, „I told my teammates before, „(Tigres) haven't lost yet, so it would feel good to win.'' ” he said. 17, 25-21, 25-20, ensuring that no team will sweep this season's elimination round.
Belen proved why he was named the first Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player with an overwhelming performance of 24 points with 21 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace, while he also had 13 points. He also played a role on defense with great digs and 10 great receptions.
„I could see that my teammates reacted well and everyone was doing their best. I'm very happy because what we've been working on over the last few days showed in this game,'' said Belén of Santo. NU poetically added after scoring a goal after losing the game that touched Thomas' winning streak. Please don't do that.
Vanji Arinsug was also effective, scoring 18 points with 14 attacks, 3 aces, and 1 block, and Alyssa Solomon added 17 points with 12 attacks, 3 aces, and 2 blocks.
Setter Camila Lamina had a great set of 16 in orchestrating NU's offense.
Avoid Pepito
National U avoided letting Santo Tomas defensive ace Bernadette Pepito touch off her serve, but it was passed on to Tigres. The Lady Bulldogs have found a new target in Angeline Poyos to ensure the Tigres' offense is out of sync.
“During practice, we already had a goal of what we wanted to be,” Belen said. After Solomon hit an ace to decide the match, he was visibly emotional.
„I didn't want to repeat the regrets that happened against La Salle,“ she added. “Our mindset was that after this game we should know we gave it our all.”
Most of National U's trio of kills went Poyos' way, reducing the chances of the powerful rookie dishing out regular damage. However, Poyos still spearheaded Santo Tomas' attack with 18 attacks, but was less effective defensively with only 4 of 23 and 14 of 31 receptions.
As a result, National U achieved overwhelming success with 13 service aces, and there was also a wall at the net with a total of 10 blocks.
„We wanted to come back from the loss (to Tigres), so almost everyone wanted to win,“ Solomon said. „We've been practicing like there's no tomorrow, so the hard work before this game paid off.“
Regina Jurado tried to help Tigres, who made a big mistake with 26 and self-destructed, with 11 attacks. However, the Nationals escaped the first set setback and came prepared to fight back against the first-round challengers, outscoring Santo Tomas in virtually every department. INQ