A mix of happiness and relief washed over Bella Belen as National University displayed its mighty form in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball after handing University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses their first loss in nine outings last weekend. 

Belen delivered a season-high performance 24 points to help the Lady Bulldogs avenge their opening day sweep loss against the Golden Tigresses last Feb. 17 where she only had nine points to show for herself. 

The 21-year-old outside hitter was pleased to see NU at 7-2 in the standings, good enough to even potentially force a three-way tie with UST and defending champion De La Salle heading to the last stretch of the eliminations. 

“For me, ‘yung team namin ngayon na nakalaban ‘yung UST [was a better team]. Mas clear na ‘yung goal sa bawat isa sa amin compared sa Round 1 [where we lost],” said Belen. 

“Kasi before sa galaw pa lang namin makikita na hindi kami iisa. Pero ngayon sobrang clear na ‘yung goal, kahit anong gawin or ipagawa sa amin ng coaches tanggap lang kami ng tanggap para pagdating sa game hindi kami mahirapan,” she added.

After the stinging start, NU actually went on a five-game winning stretch before falling to finals rival La Salle to close out the first round last March 16. 

Although it didn’t take long for the Lady Bulldogs to bounce back with a hard-earned victory over University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons the following game, to fully regain their confidence back with a massive upset win against the once unbeaten top seeded side, was just the cherry on top. 

Alongside her equally reliable supporting cast Vange Alinsug and Alyssa Solomon to keep the offensive plot working, Belen has showcased maturity and leadership through it all. 

With their two losses in the early eliminations coming from the top two sides, Belen also couldn’t help but draw inspiration from their sorry five-set loss against La Salle that saw them squander a one-set lead – leaving them frustrated and defeated in results. 

“What improved is our drive to win the game. Every game dapat may improvement. So nakikita ko sa teammates ko and in every game [there’s an improvement],” Belen said. 

“Kagaya sa La Salle, natalo man kami, nag-improve pa rin kami. Dinadala namin ‘yun every game and [see what we need to improve on] and nagagawa naman namin. ‘Yung mindset ng team mas intact ngayon, mas gusto namin manalo,” she added. 

This time, Belen was happy to walk away being the better side. 

“We set a goal during our training. Kung ano ‘yung gusto namin [mangyari] in the game against UST. Ayaw namin kasi maulit ‘yung nangyari with our game against La Salle where [we had] what ifs, may panghihinayang. Siguro mindset lang namin after this game wala kaming what ifs, kailangan talaga ibigay ‘yung best. Naging emotional kaming lahat kasi nakita namin we all did exactly that,” she said. 

The Lady Bulldogs will have some time to recover and prepare during the Holy Week break before they take on a feisty University of the East Lady Warriors on Wednesday, April 3. 

“Every team pinagaaralan namin. We have respect for each opponent regardless if they’re at the bottom. Kung paano namin pinagaralan ‘yung UST ganoon din sa UE. Siguro itong break namin, ite-treat namin siya as our preparation for the next game. One game at a time pa rin,” she concluded.