Runaway UAAP Most Valuable Player Bella Belen is slowly but surely getting a clear picture of her future as she looks to conclude her collegiate career with another championship title.
After striking first in Game 1, the 22-year-old outside hitter is poised to be awarded her third MVP on Wednesday, just before National University takes on De La Salle University in Game 2 of their best-of-three championship showdown.
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As the end of her incredible collegiate run approaches, Belen has been deep into making the best possible decision for herself after the UAAP, with multiple options already knocking on her door.
“Hindi naman mawawala [‘yung pag-iisip tungkol sa future]. Especially sa aming mga senior na pa-graduate na. I mean, paalis na sa UAAP. Hindi ko mapigilan na hindi mag-isip kung ano bang gusto kong gawin sa future,” said Belen.
“As of now, pag matutulog ‘yun ang iniisip ko. Kasi I have choices eh. Hindi ko alam kung ano ‘yung mas gusto ko, kung ano ‘yung kailangan ko. Kaya I always pray na lang na bigyan ako ng sign ni Lord kung ano ‘yung best for me. May times na may sign for me to choose this, may times na to choose that. Pero hindi pa siya final,” she continued.
[That’s always there. Especially for us seniors who are about to leave the UAAP. You can’t keep yourself from thinking about what you want to do in the future… As of now, when I go to bed, that’s on my mind. Because I have choices. I don’t know yet what I want most, what I need. So I always oray that the Lord give me a sign about what’s best for me. THere are times, there are signs to choose this and times to choose that. But it’s not yet final.]
The only other time Belen has committed outside of NU in the past seven years was when she was called up to the national team.
Belen, who provided 19 points built on 17 attacks and two aces along with 15 digs and 10 receptions in Game 1, was also coming off an inspiring graduation ceremony, where she received her BS Psychology diploma from the school.
With a diploma and multiple MVP awards in one hand, Belen is now looking forward to guide NU to a back-to-back title stints.
“Nakakapagod ‘yung last few weeks. May commitment ka sa graduation tapos may training pa kami after that. Pero ‘yung pagod naman namin may kapalit. Sabi namin kailangan ibuhos lahat kasi nasa last stretch na kami ng season,” she said.
[The last few weeks have been tiring. You have commitments for graduation and you have training after that. But all of our efforts have a reward. We said we had to give everything we have because we are in the last stretch of the season.]
In Season 84, the Lady Bulldogs ended a 65-year title drought via historic 16-game sweep, with Belen becoming the first Rookie of the Year and MVP in the women’s division in the same year.
However successful her collegiate run was, Belen still felt she owed a huge chunk of it to the juniors program of the NU Nazareth School (NUNS) where she first took her young talent.
Since high school, the 5-foot-7 hitter has learned the value of being competitive early, which has been the key to unlocking her success in the seniors tournament.
“I’ve learned healthy competition pa lang sa high school when I was in Nazareth. Marami kami no’ng high school sa team and marami rin akong kalaban sa position ko. So, mapanghinaan ka lang ng loob, hindi ka mala-line up. So as a person, you should be competitive. Kailangan mo i-lift up at tulungan ‘yung sarili mo para makapaglaro,” she said.
[I’ve learned healthy competition since high school when I was in Nazareth. There were a lot of us on that high school team so I had a lot of competition for my position. So you might have doubts, that you would not make the line up. So as a person, you should be competitive. You need to lift up and help yourself to be able to play.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News