FOR only the second time in UAAP Season 87, defending champion National University was left shell-shocked by a cellar-dwelling team.
First, it was University of the Philippines that dealt the Lady Bulldogs a monumental 24-26, 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 12-15 defeat on March 26.
READ: Why Alyssa Solomon did not play in shock NU loss to Adamson
Just 11 days later sans Alyssa Solomon, the Lady Bulldogs were shot down by Adamson, 23-25, 25-15, 26-28, 22-25, behind rookie-captain Shaina Nitura’s 32 points.
Rare as they may come, losing to lower-ranked teams with ‘nothing to lose’ in the midst of a Final Four chase and championship defense has been far from pleasing for National U.
And if there was still a bit of a wiggle room for National U to shrug off the loss to UP, there won’t be any of that anymore with three matches left in the elimination round.
“Medyo alarming siya for us. Katulad nung nangyari sa UP, nagkaroon kami ng team meeting kagabi, sabi ko na yung teams na makakalaban natin ngayon, nothing to lose na sila [Adamson],” said Belen.
“Sila, gusto lang nila gawin yung best nila at gusto nila maka-upset nung mga nasa taas, kaya kailangan ready kami sa ganon.
“Nangyari na naman, adjust ulit kami kung ano yung pagkukulang na nangyari ngayon sa game, kailangan namin masolusyonan agad.”
The only thing that matters now for the 9-2 Lady Bulldogs is to hit the 11-win mark and get their hands on a twice-to-beat advantage as soon as possible amid a tight race for semis places.
“Kailangan namin habulin yung twice-to-beat para hindi kami mahirapan. Kung ayaw namin mahirapan, kailangan namin magtrabaho at magsipag,” Belen said.
“Mas gutom dapat kami manalo at mas gustuhin naming manalo. Kanina sa game namin, yung Adamson, kahit kami sa loob ng court or kahit siguro yung mga nasa audience, kitang kita na gusto talaga nila manalo compared sa amin.”
No room for regret
In the loss to UP, Belen bared feelings of regret in losing what she deemed to be a winnable game.
Now that it has happened again, the reigning MVP hopes it will be the last time for this season that National U has to go through such a struggle to save its back-to-back championship bid.
“Medyo sad sa dugout kasi sa isip namin, kaya naman namin ipanalo. Sadyang hindi namin nagawa.
Belen added: “Talagang may umiyak kanina kasi yung frustration ng isang player, hindi naman mawawala ‘yon lalo na pag alam mo sa sarili mo na meron ka pang kaya gawin sana kaso hindi lang nagawa.”
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