NU Lady Bulldogs celebrate their National Invitationals crown in the Shakey’s Super League. -SSL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — They may have tempered expectations heading into the tournament, but NU Lady Bulldogs still showed how formidable their college program is with their first National Invitationals crown in the Shakey’s Super League.
The Lady Bulldogs didn’t field UAAP Season 86 Finals MVP Alyssa Solomon to recover from her injury and they also weren’t expecting Bella Belen and Arah Panique to finish the tournament due to their commitment to Alas Pilipinas.
But the stars still aligned for NU after Alas Pilipinas’ flight to Japan was moved to a later date, allowing the pair to complete their title quest.
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In their second straight five-setter championship game, Panique and Belen combined for 52 points to complete NU’s comeback and title-clinching 25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10 win over the gritty Far Eastern University in Game 2 on Tuesday night at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Lady Bulldogs also missed Vange Alinsug and Sheena Toring in the championship-clinching game.
“I must say that the NU volleyball program established the right formula from high school to college. Though it’s not always perfect but the results proved that we’re achieving,” said NU coach Norman Miguel in Filipino.
Panique unleashed a tournament-high 27 points and Belen, who emerged as the National Invitationals MVP, delivered 25 points to complete a series sweep of the Lady Tamaraws in back-to-back five-setters within 48 hours.
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“We’re lucky because the stars aligned and their flight to Japan was rescheduled. So the morale of the players went up and they worked harder,” said Miguel of the the national pair who was supposed to only play in the group stage.
NU, which ruled the two SSL preseason tournaments, remained unbeaten in 24 games capped with its first National Invitational title since joining the league two years ago.
“We were so happy to win this championship because our preparation was a bit shaky since most of our players came from South Korea [for a trip] and we only had five days to prepare,” Miguel said. “We also had to manage the loads of our injured players and national team players. You have to blend the players to have exposure but at the same time maintain the winning culture.”
The Lady Bulldogs got their second crown of the year after completing a title-redemption bid in the UAAP Season 86 last May. They will be eyeing a hat trick in the Collegiate Preseason Championship in September.
Belen was also named 1st Best Outside Spiker with teammates Lams Lamina (Best Setter) and Shaira Jardio (Best Libero) also winning individual recognitions.
Other individual award winners were third placer College of Saint Benilde’s Wewe Estoque (2nd Best Outside Spiker) and Zam Nolasco (1st Best Middle Blocker), FEU’s Jean Asis (2nd Best Middle Blocker) and Letran’s Judielle Nitura (Best Opposite Hitter).