BY ANDREI BARRANTES
UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas may have won the battle in the stands, but on the taraflex, National University remains golden.
Even against a hostile crowd, the Lady Bulldogs kept their composure as they outlasted the Golden Tigresses in five sets in front of 12,790 fans in attendance – most of which cheering for UST – at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
READ: National U stays perfect after besting UST in five sets
Though the sea of yellow trumped the NU faithful in the audience, not once did Bella Belen and the rest of the team felt that the crowd had lost hope on their capability to pull through.
And for that, the charismatic team skipper couldn’t be more grateful.
“I’m very thankful lang sa mga supporters namin kasi kahit na yun nga, down kami [sa] dalawang set, hindi namin naramdaman na naisip nila na matatalo na kami,” Belen said after scoring 19 points in the win.
“So ganun din kami, binabalik lang namin kung ano yung supporta na binibigay samin ng NU community. Pinagtatrabahuhan namin para maipanalo namin yung games para samin at para sakanila.”
Though the trading of chants is normal in the UAAP, very few schools have enough fans in the crowd to elevate their chants to ear-defying status.
And as chants go, very few are as deafening as 'Go USTE,’ no matter what sport is being played.
Still, it didn’t make much of a difference for the Lady Bulldogs, who have been hearing the UST crowd’s roars since their days in NU-Nazareth back in high school.
“Hindi naman siya ganon nakakaapekto talaga samin pero dagdag lang siya. Nakakaboost siya ng energy namin. Kasi yung UST, grabe yung crowd nila kanina. Pero buti nalang sanay na kami sa ‘Go USTE’ na chant, kasi since high school kalaban na namin sila eh,” Belen said.
New tricks every time
This win marks the Lady Bulldogs’ fourth straight victory against the Golden Tigresses, with their last defeat all the way back in Season 86’s opener.
Even though they’ve had UST’s number for a hot minute, Belen and company are always greeted by something new every time.
“For me, pwede siya maging both disadvantage at saka advantage. Kasi yun nga, sabi niyo matagal na namin silang nakalaban. So medyo familiar na kami sa galaw ng isa’t isa,” she said.
“Pero every season po kasi nagiimprove yung UST and every game actually kasi nakikita naman namin. Lalo na kanina, meron kaming mga nakita in-game na hindi namin nakita before sa mga previous games nila,” she added.
Given how much of a fight Regina Jurado and crew put up even with the absence of their key players, they know that UST will continue to give them problems for the rest of the season.
“Siguro, kailangan iimprove din namin yung team namin and yung skills namin as individual. Kasi tingin ko meron pang kayang gawin yung team namin sa next games,” she added.
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