In both of their elimination round meetings, the FEU Lady Tamaraws seemed poised to upset the NU Lady Bulldogs.
Ten games into their UAAP Season 87 campaign, only three teams have been able to push the NU Lady Bulldogs into survival mode.
First up are the UP Lady Maroons, who ended the defending champs’ eight-game winning streak thanks to a historic 30-point outing from middle blocker Niña Ytang. Weeks before falling to UP, NU also suffered a scare against the cat-like UST Golden Tigresses in a thrilling finals rematch to end the first round of eliminations.
Last but not least are the FEU Lady Tamaraws, who forced the Lady Bulldogs into their first five-setter for Season 87 last February 23. And pending NU’s Round 2 meeting against UST, only the Lady Tams have given the defending champs a scare twice for the ongoing UAAP season.
There were no five-setters this time, but FEU nonetheless put up a tough challenge in their Round 2 meeting against the Lady Bulldogs: a 22-25, 26-24, 24-26, 18-25 loss at the SMART Araneta Coliseum over the weekend.
In a quick conversation with The GAME, NU captain Bella Belen was first to acknowledge one of the Lady Tams’ biggest assets, which they utilized to the full extent when facing the defending champs.
“‘Yung sa FEU kasi, medyo malalaki rin sila, and ‘yung mga middles nila, nagko-contribute talaga sa team nila, so doon kami nahirapan,” Belen explained as the Lady Bulldogs made their way out of the Araneta Coliseum.
Indeed, FEU’s middle blockers in veteran Jean Asis and five-foot-ten Jaz Ellarina came up big against the Lady Bulldogs, finishing with 16 and 15 points respectively to accompany opposite hitter Faida Bakanke’s team-high 21 markers.
Asis poured in 14 spikes, while Ellarina recorded 10 kills and five rejections as they capitalized on the Lady Bulldogs’ defensive struggles at the middle.
“Yun din ‘yung naging butas namin against UP [with Ytang], doon kami nahirapan mag-block, mag–depensa, so ganun lang din ‘yung ginawa ng FEU [last night],” the captain humbly admitted.
Belen pointed out the Lady Bulldogs’ height disadvantage as a possible reason behind these struggles, with FEU alone also having the six-one Bakanke and rookie middle blocker Clarisse Loresco in their depth chart.
“Kasi kami, siguro, hindi kami kalakihang team, kahit ‘yung mga middle namin pag [compare] sa ibang team, talagang iba…Pero team effort naman, so kahit na ganun, nagtutulungan kami and kung nahihirapan man ‘yung isa samin, tulungan lang para mapadali ‘yung trabaho ng bawa’t isa,” she reflected.
But if their overseas campaigns are any indicator, Belen is confident that the Lady Bulldogs can and will resolve this weakness in no time.
“Kung ano ‘yung mahina kami, dun kami medyo mag-overload ng kaunti, magfo-focus ng kaunti, kasi kaya naman namin, and nakakita naman ako ng glimpse ng team namin nung naglalaro kami outside the country,” said the graduating spiker, recalling to NU’s participation in the AVC Women’s Club Volleyball Championship run last September, and their SEA V.League campaign in 2023.
“Kahit hindi kami gano’n kalakihan, kaya namin makipagsabayan sa mga malalaking middle, sa mga malalaking outside, so ayun.”
‘Ginusto namin ito!’
NU’s win over the Lady Tams also serves as their bounce-back following the UP loss. It’s still a small sample size, but Belen knows that her team is playing with much less pressure now, especially with the challenge of completing a 14-0 sweep being taken off their backs.
“Personally, nakita ko naman po na medyo gumaan kasi nawala na rin yung pressure. Minsan nga binibiro ko ‘yung teammates ko, lalo na lang pag nag-team meeting kami every night before ng game na, ‘Ayan, may talo na tayo! Sana naman hindi na tayo nape-pressure kasi talo na eh, ginusto natin ‘to’. Ganyan, so medyo na-lessen naman na ‘yung pressure sa amin,” Belen said, partly in jest.
“Kailangan lang talaga namin na-enjoy every game, kasi lalo na minsan pag sobrang tense ng game, parang ‘yung movements namin nati-tense din kami. Pero kasi napansin ko sa team ko na pag in-enjoy lang namin, dun lumalabas ‘yung totoong laro namin.”
Bella Belen and the Lady Bulldogs are set to face the Adamson Lady Falcons next this April 6, before turning their attention to the UE Lady Warriors, Ateneo Blue Eagles, and finally, another UST meeting this April 27 to close out eliminations.
While they are back on the winning track, Belen knows that the Lady Bulldogs still have a lot left to show as they gun for a two-to-beat advantage heading into the Final Four.
“Alam ko talaga yung capability ng team namin, kung ano yung kaya namin gawin, and I think medyo malayo po kami doon. Kasi parang medyo, ano pa ‘yun, relax-relax ganyan, kumbaga parang hindi pa sya yung full na kayang gawin. So I think, pwede pa namin syang i-improve sa mga next games namin.”
Images courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.