Belen: NU needs to finish off UST in Game 2
FINISH off the UST Golden Tigresses in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball finals.
Bella Belen said that this is the mentality that the NU Lady Bulldogs should have after taking the series opener, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on May 11.
“We’re very happy because we were able to translate what we’ve trained to the game. We can’t be complacent in Game Two. We should keep in mind that UST is a tough fighting team [and giving them one more chance is dangerous],” said Belen.
“We need to posses a mindset that we need to finish them off in Game 2 and that we shouldn’t let the series reach a do-or-die game for both teams,” added Belen, who fired 13 points plus eight digs and six receptions in the match that drew 20,955 fans at The Big Dome.
Belen and the Lady Bulldogs knew firsthand how hard it is to let the opposition force a do-or-die game, having experienced that against the FEU Lady Tamaraws in the Final Four where they held a twice-to-beat advantage.
The Lady Tamaraws took Game 1 before the Lady Bulldogs regrouped and claimed Game 2 to march to their third straight Finals appearance.
In order to finish off UST, Belen said NU should minimize its errors after committing 19 in Game 1. The Lady Bulldogs were fortunate that the Golden Tigresses practically negated that with 18 errors of their own.
“I think we could still minimize our errors. The game was pretty tight and we’re thankful that UST also committed almost the same amount of errors as we had. Maybe if they didn’t have so much errors, we could have lost this game,” said Belen.
“We had a lot of errors in the service department. We will iron our service game in training and hopefully come Game 2, we can maximize the opponents’ errors.”
While the UST crowd in yellow was a lot louder and more synchronised in their cheer, the NU faithful also made noise and gave a boost to the Lady Bulldogs at the Big Dome.
Belen and company were glad to see that. “We’re very happy because we saw the NU community come to support us. They fought the UST crowd that looked so huge that Araneta looked like UST’s QPav (Quadricentennial Pavilion) right? But when we saw how they cheered for us, it helped us big time,” said Belen.
“It was an energy-booster to have seen them cheer for us, that there are people who believe and support us. Hopefully in Game 2, we can see them again. We wish that MOA would like an NU gym.”