Lady Bulldogs keep eyes on UAAP crown

Despite completing a perfect season last year, National University remains hungry and focused on winning another title when Season 85 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines women's volleyball tournament unwraps on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Bella Belen said their success in Season 84 is now a thing of the past and they are eager to overcome fresh challenges to erect a dynasty in the country's most prestigious collegiate league.
Tough battles await the Lady Bulldogs.

Last year's bridesmaid, De La Salle University, will be missing 11-time champion coach Ramil de Jesus, but it will hardly matter as interim coach Noel Orcullo still has the luxury of deploying super rookie Angel Canino together with Thea Gagate, Aleiah Malaluan and Jolina Dela Cruz.

Ateneo de Manila University, for its part, will bank on Faith Nisperos, AC Miner and Vannie Gander while University of Santo Tomas will still have old reliable Eya Laure, KC Galdones and the returning Milena Alessandrini.

Still, Belen said they will enter the brand-new season with the same mindset that made them successful in the past.

"Even if we swept the previous season, we will not get complacent. We're thinking of nothing than surpassing our performance in the previous season. That's why we trained in Japan to level up our game. Every training, we're doing our best to improve," said Belen, the reigning Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, referring to their training camp in Japan last December in which they played against the best collegiate teams.

Belen said their coach, Karl Dimaculangan, is making them aware that defending the title is way more difficult than winning the crown.

"He's always saying that it's hard to defend the title than to be champions," said Belen, who looks fit and deadly heading into the season.

"All teams are out to beat us so we remain focused on getting ourselves better. Our biggest opponents are ourselves. We really have to do our best every game and stick to the system, listen to our coaches and apply all the lessons we're gaining on actual games."

Belen added that they are looking forward to opening their season against the Blue Eagles, who won the Season 81 title before the Covid-19 pandemic suspended the league's next two seasons.

"Of course, we're very excited because we have longer preparation this time," Belen said, adding that she is thrilled to play with their rookies led by the promising Vangie Alinsug.

"Our coaches have been telling us to give our best and don't ever doubt our skills and ability because we're training hard."