Bella Belen leads NU Lady Bulldogs to twice-to-beat edge in UAAP women’s volleyball. –UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—National University has some sense of comfort now that it holds a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four but the Lady Bulldogs should not be complacent, said Bella Belen.
NU came from behind in a victory over Ateneo, 21-25, 28-30, 25-14, 25-13, 15-13, in its last elimination game in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament which secured them the second seed for the postseason.
The Lady Bulldogs’ 11-3 record also earned them a twice-to-beat advantage against either Adamson or University of Santo Tomas, depending on which of the two would end up with the third seed.
While the advantage gave the Lady Bulldogs a “little confidence,” Belen stated that there is no room for complacency once the Final Four phase begins.
“Our confidence was boosted a little but our mindset is, we shouldn’t let them win two games in a row. In our first game, we have to end it right away so we won’t have a hard time, even with the advantage,” told the reigning UAAP Rookie of the Year and MVP at San Juan Arena on Saturday.
WATCH: National University’s Bella Belen and Camilla Lamina after clinching the last twice-to-beat advantage in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament’s Final Four.
The Lady Bulldogs end the elimination with an 11-3 record. | @MeloFuertesINQ pic.twitter.com/7ToEQpu9BW
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) April 29, 2023
Belen led the game in scoring with 26 points while Alyssa Solomon followed suit with 25 of her own for the NU victory.
Camilla Lamina also played a huge part in giving the Lady Bulldogs the momentous playoff advantage with three markers and 17 excellent sets.
According to Lamina, before they even get to the Final Four and study their soon-to-be opponent, the Lady Bulldogs have to work on themselves before anything else.
“We’ll study our past games, what happened, why the outcome was the way it was, why we performed the way we did and only then will we look at our opponents. We’ll start [working] on ourselves,” Lamina said in FIlipino.
As of writing, La Salle has sealed the important top seed above NU with a 12-1 record while University of Santo Tomas and Adamson are in a neck-and-neck for the third seed with identical 9-4 cards.