Once they regained their bearings, there was no stopping them.
The National University Lady Bulldogs were uncharacteristically sloppy in the curtain raiser of their Final Four showdown against the Adamson University Lady Falcons on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. But once the Lady Bulldogs got their bearings going, they were almost unstoppable.
The defending champs ultimately dispatched the Lady Falcons, 22-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15, to seal their spot in the finals of the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament.
NU punched a return trip to the finals against the De La Salle University Lady Spikers, who disposed of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses earlier.
“Kinompose namin sarili namin. Ni-remind namin sa teammates na, ‘Guys, hindi ito galawan natin. Hindi tayo ganito. Kailangan natin bumalik sa kung ano tine-training natin,” said Alyssa Solomon, who finished with 21 points on 12 attacks, 1 block, and 3 service aces.
After dropping the first set, the Lady Bulldogs looked like a well-oiled machine thereafter. At one point in the fourth frame, in fact, they were even leading by double-digits, 21-10.
They refused to let up from there.
“Siguro ‘yung masyado kaming relaxed. Masyado kaming maraming iniisip. Masyadong excited, ang daming emotions,” Solomon said when asked about the opening set.
But the job’s not finished. The Lady Bulldogs will go back to the drawing board to try and come up with a ploy to edge La Salle anew in the biggest stage.
“Siyempre training pa rin kami ng mga kailangan namin i-improve. Mag-regroup kami,” she said.
Game 1 of the finals is tentatively scheduled on May 7, also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
(MDB)