By MARK REY MONTEJO
Veterans Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon were both elated for National University’s rousing start in the UAAP Season 87 especially that they beat the one many perceived to be the biggest stumbling block in their title-retention bid.
Responding well to the challenge of new coach in Sherwin Meneses, the two stars led the Lady Bulldogs to an impressive 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 over the La Salle Lady Spikers in front of 16,624 cheering fans at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, Feb. 16.
While it was a grand welcome for Meneses, it was a complete opposite for La Salle’s multi-titled coach Ramil De Jesus.
Maybe, it was more painful than anyone can think.
That’s because it was De Jesus first loss as La Salle coach on opening day since 2012.
But for Belen and Solomon, the victory was a huge boost for NU as it showed their readiness to defend their title.
“Syempre very important ‘yong first game, since ‘yon nga opening, and dito makikita kung paano namin ipapakita ‘yong pinag-trainingan namin, said Solomon.
“Kung paano namin pinaghandaan namin ‘tong season na ‘to and kung ano ‘yong mga improvement (namin),” she added.
“Talagang tinrabaho talaga ng team… dapat first game maganda ‘yong pasok namin sa season na ‘to, kailangan ‘yong pagtitiyaga namin sa loob ng court nando’n kasi ‘yong La Salle, champion team sila eh,” Belen continued. “Palaban ‘yong La Salle eh, so dapat mas palaban kami.”
The two-time UAAP MVP steadied NU’s ship during rough times on the way to posting14 points on 10 kills, three aces and one block while Solomon, for her part, tallied 13 points on 12 attacks.
Their defense also played a huge role for the Lady Bulldogs as it held Angel Canino to just seven points and put Shevana Laput’s 18-point performance to waste.
Despite the win, Belen knows there are a lot of things to improve as the season goes on, especially the system which seasoned mentor Meneses wants to apply.
“Pero I think kahit napanalo namin this game, marami parin kaming lapses… so dapat kami hanggang ‘di pa tapos ‘yong game, siguro kailangan naming i-improve pa ‘yong galaw namin,” Belen said.
“Mahaba pa ang season, and first game palang po, and marami pa kaming kailangang i-improve and kailangan pa namin aralin ‘yong system,” she added.
Meneses, meanwhile, was thrilled in his UAAP return, noting it was a great experience to coach in collegiate ranks again and was happy his veteran wards played well.
