MANILA, Philippines – There is no room for error for the NU Lady Bulldogs in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball finals as far as former rookie-Most Valuable Player Bella Belen is concerned, even as they hold the 1-0 advantage over the UST Golden Tigresses.
Hardened by their lessons learned during their semifinals series against FEU, wher e they needed to eke out the win in a do-or-die Game 2, Belen promised that the Lady Bulldogs would mean business come Wednesday afternoon.
“Siguro for Game 2, kailangan hindi kami makampante, kailangan isipin namin na syempre UST ‘yan, palaban yung team na ‘yan. Kailangan yung mindset namin is kailangan tatapusin na namin sa Game 2 katulad n ung sa do-or-die,” Belen said after their Game 1 win on Saturday.
“Kailangan hindi na namin paabutin ng do-or-die pa, ‘wag na kami maghanap ng challenge. Hangga’t kaya naming tapusin nga Game 2, tapusin namin.”
Though easier said than done, Belen and the rest of the Lady Bulldogs will do good for themselves to treat Game 2 as a must-win affair. With UST’s bid derailed by an injury to star hitter Angge Poyos, NU will hope to regain the crown before she reco vers enough to challenge them right back.
In Game 1 NU pounced on Poyos’ absence after spraining her ankle on teammate Em Banagua in Set 2. While the Tigresses were left scrambling after her exit midway, the Lady Bulldogs operated like well-oiled machinery.
Still, Belen believes there were still some lapses that they will need to work on to take Game Two. The MVP candidate zeroed in on one aspect: unforced e rrors.
“I think kaya pa namin bawasan yung errors. Kasi yung game medyo dikit pa siya, siguro thankful na lang din kami na parehas kami halos ng errors ng UST. Siguro kung hindi sila ma-error, talo kami dito sa Game 2,” said Belen.
“Siguro balik kami sa training, pagtiyagaan namin kung saan kami masyado nag-error like sa serve. Siguro maglalaan kami ng oras don para talagang makapa namin yung serve namin. Pagdating ng Game 2 ma-maximize [sic] namin yung mga errors namin.”
As Belen and company take care of what to do on the court, she encouraged the NU community to continue to show up, after a whopping 20,955 fans saw the action live at the Big Dome on Saturday.
With all to play for on Wednesday, Belen wants to see a sea of blue and gold.
“Sobrang happy kami kasi talagang nakita namin yung crowd namin na pumunta talaga sila to support us [today]. Nilabanan nila yung UST crowd kahit kanina akala namin mukhang [UST] QPav lang yung Araneta,” quipped Belen.
“Pero nung nakita namin kung paano sila mag-cheer, kasi nakakatulong din samin ‘yun, nakaka-boost samin ng energy na may mga taong naniniwala samin, may mga taong sumusuporta samin, and sana sa Game 2 makita namin sila. Sana mukhang NU gym naman (yung Mall of Asia Arena).”
Game 2 is penciled in to start at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15.
MANILA, Philippines — Clariss Guce’s momentum from her stirring 65 Friday fizzled out as she struggled to maintain her form, ending up with a 73 and slipping further behind Dana Fall in the third round of the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona Saturday (Sunday Manila time).
In stark contrast to her impressive performance in the previous round that featured two eagles, Guce grappled with her accuracy off the tee and approach shots, finding only five fairways and missing nine greens.
However, her proficiency on the greens salvaged her round as she registered 29 putts, preventing a more significant slide down the leaderboard.
She bogeyed two of the first 12 holes, where she previous excelled with a 6-under score. Although she birdied the 13th, she conceded another stroke on the par-5 closing hole of the TPC Scottsdale’s Champions course.
Guce assembled a 205 to slip to solo fifth spot, four strokes behind Fall, who stayed at the helm despite a one-over 72 for a 201, one shot ahead of Chinese Michelle Zhang, who rallied with a 69 for a 202.
Kum-Kang Park and Mariel Galdiano matched 71s for joint third at 204.
Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, also slowed down with an even-par 71 after back-to-back 68s, but her 207 total moved her to solo 10th heading into the final 18 holes of the $400,000 Epson Tour championship.
The ICTSI-backed campaigner managed three birdies but struggled with an equal number of bogeys, failing to capitalize on her flawless driving accuracy that saw her hitting all fairways.
However, she wrestled with her irons, failing to reach regulation eight times although she finished with 29 putts to mitigate the damage.
Pauline del Rosario’s impressive performances of 66-67 also abruptly halted as she limped with a 75 to plummet from tied fourth position to a share of 11th at 208, now seven strokes behind Fall.
Despite dominating Nos. 1 and 8, both par-5s, with a birdie and an eagle, respectively, del Rosario fumbled with three bogeys and two costly double bogeys on Nos. 7 and 11, severely denting her hopes of contending for the title.