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Belen, NU renew rivalry vs. Canino, La Salle in UAAP Finals

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Karl Cedrick Basco, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Photos from UAAP Media Bureau" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/05/06/20230506-uaap-media-bureau.jpg"/><figcaption>Photos from UAAP Media Bureau</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – For the second straight year, the defending champions National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs and the De La Salle Lady Spikers will face off in the UAAP women’s volleyball Finals. But this time, it appears that the tides have changed as the Lady Spikers emerged as the top team in Season 85 while the Lady Bulldogs, who had a historic 16-0 title run last year, had to work extra hard to reach the finals. This season, La Salle finally paraded the sought-after rookie Angel Canino and she did not disappoint as she towed the Lady Spikers to a 13-1 elimination record and Final Four win against the UST Tigresses. In fact, Canino is poised to win the Rookie of the Year award and is a strong MVP candidate for the season. And reigning rookie-MVP Bella Belen is well aware of that. They knew Canino even before heading to the collegiate ranks after squaring off multiple times in the juniors division. Belen was with Alyssa Solomon, Lams Lamina, and Erin Pangilinan when the Lady Bullpups battled De La Salle Zobel, who had Canino, Alleiah Malaluan, and Justine Jazareno, in the UAAP Season 81 girls volleyball finals.It was the Junior Lady Archers who finished on top of the tournament, beating NU in two games. And this year, in a bigger stage, they meet again for another finals series.“Paghahandaan po namin yung finals matchup na ito lalo na yung kay Angel nga po, nakalaban namin siya before and hindi naging maganda yung result para samin,” Belen said after their win against Adamson in the Final Four.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/06/23/uaap-belen-nu-relish-tougher-road-to-season-85-finals">UAAP: Belen, Lady Bulldogs relish tougher road to Season 85 Finals</a></li></ul>Aside from losing in the juniors division, the Lady Bulldogs also lost all their two matchups against the Lady Spikers in the elimination round this season. “Ito siguro ang time para samin na makabawi and mapakita yung school pride talaga namin. And mapakita sa buong UAAP community na gusto namin manalo this season. Hindi kami papayag na maagaw samin ang korona,” she continued. But Canino and the rest of La Salle are not getting complacent over the defending champions, knowing that this was the same team who went on a strong 16-0 run in Season 84 to win the title.NU is also on a seven-game winning run after their back-to-back losses to La Salle, as they appear to be peaking at the right time. “Yung goal namin is mag-champion and after that doon namin mapapakita na ito kami La Salle kami, kaya namin,” Canino said after booking the Finals ticket. “Sa amin tuloy lang yung hard work, composure namin and yung fighting spirit namin. Yung disiplina lang namin na mabawasan yung error yun po yun,” Jazareno added. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/03/23/focus-lang-la-salles-canino-shrugs-off-mvp-chants">&#x27;Focus lang&#x27;: La Salle&#x27;s Canino shrugs off MVP chants</a></li></ul>Asked about the difference of the upcoming Finals series from last year, Malaluan said La Salle has a deeper bench this time against NU. “Deep yung bench namin kahit sinong hugutin mo sa bench makakakuha ka talaga kaya yun na lang expect nyo,” Malaluan told reporters. For Belen and co, they knew that the championship is way different than the eliminations and they are raring to show how hungry they are to win the title.“For me, finals na po ito. Ibang usapan na. Natalo man po kami sa first and second round, tapos na po yun. Itong finals po back to zero na talaga,” she continued.“Dito na papasok kung sino mas gustong manalo. Kung sino mas gusto yung season na ito. Yung mindset namin kailangan namin na mag-stick sa goal namin. Laban lang kami as a team.”Game one of the Finals will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 7 at the Araneta Coliseum. <div>UAAP Season 85 is streaming on iWantTFC every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, available for Premium users outside the Philippines.</div>

For the second straight year, the NU Lady Bulldogs and the De La Salle Lady Spikers will face off in the UAAP women’s volleyball Finals. 

Belen, NU renew rivalry vs. Canino, La Salle in UAAP Finals

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Belen, NU renew rivalry vs. Canino, La Salle in UAAP Finals

Karl Cedrick Basco,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 07, 2023 04:15 AM PHT

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Bella Belen

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