National University’s unbeaten conquest of the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 sent a clear message to its rivals for next year’s college volleyball wars.
Sweeping their way into back-to-back titles including a dominating finals series over University of Santo Tomas, the Lady Bulldogs flexed their muscles short of saying that they will reclaim the University Athletic Association of the Philippines crown they lost last year.
Although Season 86 is still three months away, NU’s second straight flawless run in the prestigious tournament featuring the best squads from the UAAP and the National Collegiate Athletic Association is already an indication of its determination to get back on top of the UAAP.
But Lady Bulldogs head coach Norman Miguel doesn’t want his girls to rest on their laurels following a 10-game sweep of the contest that culminated with their 25-17, 15-25, 25-20, 25-20, victory over UAAP rival University of Santo Tomas last Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
“As much as we want to feel that we’re 100 percent (ready for UAAP) we don’t want to put that in our minds so that we can have a reason to work and improve,” Miguel said.
The mentor, who is making a comeback after stepping down from his NU post two years ago, wants to keep the Lady Bulldogs focused on their ultimate goal of taking back the title they surrendered to De La Salle University.
“We have to keep on pushing so that we’ll be ready for the UAAP. We always think that there are things that we need to address for us to regain the UAAP title,” he said.
NU has won all 18 games it played in the two editions of the SSL parading an almost intact core led by back-to-back tournament Most Valuable Player Alyssa Solomon, Bella Belen, setter Lams Lamina, Vange Alinsug and Erin Pangilinan.
However, the Lady Bulldogs still have a lot to work on as they have yet to test their mettle against the Lady Spikers, who ruled the SSL season-opening National Invitationals but skipped the Preseason Championship.
But for now, NU will take a short rest before plotting its next move in building up for the UAAP.
“We’ll have a short break, a very short break to recover before shifting our focus and concentration on UAAP,” he said.
