Although National University is on fire with four straight wins, its seniors, Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon, still long for better performances from the team.
This comes after the Lady Bulldogs faced a rough patch in their 25-17, 13-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory against Far Eastern University on Wednesday.
After a strong start to the match, National U was caught off guard by the Lady Tamaraws, who answered with a 25-13 blowout in the second set.
Fortunately for Norman Miguel’s girls, they found their second wind, taking the third and fourth sets for a 4-1 record, tying with De La Salle University at second place.
“For me, yung consistency namin which is hindi kami dapat mag-relax kasi nung first set ginawa namin yung trabaho namin kung ano yung inaral namin ginawa namin and then nung second set medyo nag-relax kami kaya naging ganon yung outcome,” said Belen on what they need to work on to be even better.
“Sa akin yung mindset ng team na bawal kami mag-relax, hindi pa kasi tapos yung laban, dapat hindi kami hihinto hanggang hindi pa tapos yung laro,” echoed Solomon.
On the brighter side of things, Belen and Solomon praised the fact that their hard work in training, especially for digs and receptions, is showing up in the games.
Solomon tallied a game-high 25 points with 21 attacks, three blocks, and a service ace, also contributing seven digs.
Belen, on the other hand, impressed with a triple-double outing of 19 points, 19 digs, and 11 excellent receptions.
Her efficiency made it even more commendable, going 19-of-31 in digs and 11-of-20 in receptions, both above the 50 percent mark.
“Yung sa dig namin tinrabaho talaga namin siya for months. May time na everyday kami tini-three man drill niya para maghabol nang maghabol ng bola and happy naman ako kasi nakikita namin yun sa game na naaapply namin yung ganong practice sa game,” said the 6-foot-1 Solomon, who was surprised upon learning that she got seven digs.
“Gaya ng sabi ni Ate Aly, sa training pa lang po pinapractice na namin siya yung digging namin kasi napansin namin nung first game namin doon kami mababa and tinatry namin na kada game kailangan may magiimprove sa game namin,” said Belen.
“Happy naman ako na medyo nakakaangat angat na yung digging namin and yung passing pero I think meron pa kaming kayang gawin, na hindi pa siya yung best namin.”
