UAAP volleyball: With thesis defended, Sheena Toring returns to give NU a boost

NU Lady Bulldogs’ Sheena Toring in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Sheena Toring  made sure she’s a student first and an athlete second.

Amid National University’s redemption tour in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament, Toring has also been focused on completing her thesis.

In fact, the BS Tourism Management student-athlete even missed NU’s five-set win over Ateneo last Saturday due to lack of sleep as she prepared for her thesis defense.

“To be honest, there’s a part of me that’s distracted by the lack of sleep because I’m doing research [for my thesis],” said Toring. “I was absent in our last game because I only had two hours of sleep and I told the coach I really couldn’t play.

SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball first round

Toring returned to action on Wednesday and contributed three points in the first two sets as NU swept Adamson, 25-17, 25-20, 25-20, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Since that [thesis defense] is done, I need to focus now in the coming days,” the middle blocker said. “I really wanted to redeem myself today and play well.”

“I’m happy because my goal today is really to contribute. All of us wanted to bounce back because we haven’t been playing well the past few days.”

Sheena Toring on playing at the Big Dome after her injury last year.

Alyssa Solomon on addressing their slow start. #UAAPSeason86 | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/AqiKilPf9h

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Toring played at the Big Dome for the first time since suffering a left knee injury in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 85 Finals last year.

“That’s in the past. I have moved on from last year. That injury has served as a lesson for me to always be in proper condition every game,” she said as the Lady Bulldogs improved to a 2-1 record.

Toring said NU needs to stay consistent as it eyes its third straight win against University of the Philippines on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

“For me, we need to be patient with our progress. We need to be consistent in practice and hopefully we can apply [our learnings] in our next game,” Toring said.