THE National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs are being haunted by the ghosts of their dismal past two seasons, as they have yet to win a single game in the second round of Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippine women’s volleyball tournament.
After topping the first round with a resilient 6-1 win-loss record, the Lady Bulldogs are all bark and no bite since the second round started, as they were swept by De La Salle and Ateneo de Manila, capped by a frustrating 19-25, 15-25, 25-18, 13-25 defeat to Adamson University on Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
As NU dropped to fourth place with a 6-4 card, Head Coach Babes Castillo thought that his wards are being haunted by their frustrating past—collapsing in the middle of the past two seasons and fell short to enter the Final Four.
“Their past is haunting them. They are having a hard time to remove that,” said Castillo, whose wards committed 39 errors. “I saw the ghost of their past that they base their happiness in wins. We should not rely on the wins only, we have to learn from losses too.“
Skipper Jaja Santiago, who single-handedly carried the load of the team with 21 points and even had 11 digs, was so frustrated as she and her setter Jasmin Nabor didn’t entertain interview requests from reporters. Aiko Urdas was the only player available to talk about their loss.
“We lacked communication and lost our braveness inside the court. But, as what coach told us, we just need to keep on fighting,” said Urdas, who only had five points in the game.
For Castillo, it is not yet time to push the panic button, since they still have four games, only needing to win three of those to assure a spot to the semifinals.
“No panic. If you can take the best, you have to take the worst,” he said. “You’ve seen these ladies move like champions. It’s there, they did it. They can do it again.”
The Bulldogs try to end their three-game skid against University of Santo Tomas on Saturday at the same venue in San Juan before the holy week break. They have University of the Philippines, University of the East and Far Eastern University on the last stretch of their season.