Lady Bulldogs vow to give all in do-or-die vs Lady Tamaraws

MANILA, Philippines -- The National University Lady Bulldogs will be going for broke as they will try to barge into their third straight finals of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament, star Bella Belen said.

They were swept by the four-seed Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws in the first Final Four match on Saturday, which led to the rubber match.

Belen said that the team will be pouring everything out in the do-or-die matchup on Wednesday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We are now at do-or-die. No retreating. If we lose, we go down, and if we win, we will go into the Finals,” she told reporters in Filipino after the game.

“So, we need to give everything, pour everything. We will give our 100% effort,” she added.

The former Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player was the lone Lady Bulldog in double figures in their first game against FEU with 12 points on 11 attacks and a service ace.

Usual suspects Vange Alinsug and Alyssa Solomon had eight points apiece.

Their defeat snapped NU’s seven-game winning streak.

“As I told my teammates, this challenge will not be given by the Lord if we cannot do it. So, with all the challenges that are given to us, we can do it,” the outside hitter said.

Belen also underscored that she thinks the loss the Sampaloc-based squad absorbed will not affect their confidence going into the crucial contest.

“I know my teammates, and I know my team. We know what we can do. We may have had a bad game, and we had a lot of errors, we had off games, but I know we will bounce back,” she said.

“Our team is a fighter. We lost, but this is what will push our team… It’s done, we now have to move forward and work.”