No let up for NU despite securing F4 bonus

(UPDATE) THE moment you let your guard down is the moment you lose.

The defending champs NU Lady Bulldogs knew this for sure, having lost to lower-ranked teams UP Fighting Maroons and the Adamson Lady Falcons.

Now assured of a twice-to-beat incentive in the UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball Final Four, reigning MVP Bella Belen said that this is not a reason for the Lady Bulldogs to take it easy.

The Lady Bulldogs, who sport a league-best record of 11-2, need to push harder, instead.

"Just because we secured the twice-to-beat, it doesn't mean we're going to stop pushing," said Belen, whose team secured the semis bonus after beating Ateneo, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

"We still have one more elimination game, so we really need to fix the lapses we had in this one. Like what Lams (Lamina) said, we had a lot of unnecessary errors earlier. I think we can still work on those before our game against UST so we can perform more cleanly."

The Sherwin Meneses-mentored NU returns to action on April 27 to wrap its elimination round game against UST.

Belen, who logged 12 points, 13 excellent receptions, and 12 digs against Ateneo, said that the Lady Bulldogs will remain hard at work in their two-week break.

"We're going to be more detailed in training this time, especially since we have a long break," said Belen.

"Every game, no matter who we're up against, we should be giving it our all. We need to be the ones dictating the pace of the game. If we want to win, we can't just wait for points to be handed to us — we have to earn them."