Hot-starting Lady Bulldogs have gone to the dogs?

MANILA, Philippines — From hero to zero, the freefalling National U Lady Bulldogs are dazed by the sudden reversal of fortunes that hit them.

Kicking off their campaign with 5-0 en route to a leading 6-1 at the halfway point of UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament, the Lady Bulldogs suddenly lost their bite and suffered five consecutive setbacks in Round 2.

Which left many, including themselves, wondering: What’s wrong with the most dominant team of the first round?

“Sobrang nakakapanghinayang kasi parang from 6-1 ka nung first round, natalo mo naman yung mga tumatalo sa iyo, ngayong second round parang sobrang sayang. Ano yung kulang na meron sa atin nung first round? (It’s disappointing that after a 6-1 record, we’re now in this situation, losing to teams we  beat in the first round. What’s missing in our second round?),” rued skipper Jaja Santiago after absorbing an 18-25, 22-25, 20-25 defeat to University of the Philippines. 

“Gusto ng team namin (manalo) pero may hesitation pa rin, may mga doubt (We wanted to win but there’s still hesitation and doubt on our part),” she noted.

The Lady Bulldogs have had their soul-searching and reflections during the Holy Week break but still couldn’t find the solutions to the nagging problem.

“Every time na nag-uusap kami ang lumalabas lang naman, as in yung point lang ng bawat isa, is manalo at pumasok sa semis at syempre mag-finals kasi dati pa naman yun yung goal namin pero hindi namin alam kung ano yung humahadlang talaga, kung bakit ganun na parang may something namin sa loob ng court (We agree that our goal is to win, get into the semis and eventually the finals but we have no clue what’s bothering us and impeding our progress),” said Santiago.

“Kasi sa training, sobrang ganda ng takbo talaga, ang daming nakakakita kahit nga yung mga high school namin, yung ibang nagte-training sa gym namin sinasabi nila ‘okay naman sila sa training ah bakit pagdating ng game nawawala?’ So kahit sila coach Babes hindi rin alam kung anong nangyayari sa amin kahit ako na nandoon sa loob parang bakit ganun ‘anong kulang? (We always have a good training, which makes those are watching us wonder ‘how come it doesn’t show in the actual games?’  Coach Babes (Castillo) couldn’t pinpoint what’s wrong, so do I),” she added.

Santiago expressed belief they can salvage this campaign.