Bella Belen displayed her dangerous form in leading the undefeated defending champion National University to a 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 crushing of Ateneo de Manila University in the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 playoffs Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The former University Athletic Association of the Philippines Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player unleashed 13 points she collected from 11 attacks and two kill blocks as the Lady Bulldogs hiked their perfect record to 5-0.
NU needed only 84 minutes to take down the Blue Eagles and move closer to clinching the no. 1 seed finish in Pool E.
“We tried not to be complacent during the game. We know we still have a lot to improve on. We address that in training so that we won’t commit the same mistakes during games,” Belen said.
Ateneo absorbed its third loss in five outings.
Meanwhile, University of Santo Tomas vented its ire on Arellano University, 25-16, 31-29, 25-18, to bounce back from a previous loss.
Jonna Perdido fired 13 points while Angeline Poyos and Regina Jurado added 12 and seven points, respectively, for the Tigresses, who improved to a 4-1 win-loss card behind NU.
“All of us were very eager to win, that’s why we had that kind of performance in this game,” Perdido said.
UST rebounded from a 19-25, 20-25, 16-25 defeat at the hands of the Lady Bulldogs.
The Lady Chiefs, who stunned the Blue Eagles in the playoff opener, 25-21, 25-18, 25-21, slid to a 3-2 mark.
