MANILA, Philippines — Class of 2025 first overall draft pick Bella Belen tallied 26 points and recorded nine excellent digs against 10-time Premier Volleyball League (PVL) champion Creamline during their preliminary round clash in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
While it was an impressive outing for the super rookie, there was a significant scoring discrepancy among the rest of the Solar Spikers, following Belen, Taps Tapia was the team's second-highest scorer with just four points.
This led to a straight-set win of Creamline, 25-18, 26-24, 25-20, on Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City. The 23-year-old gunner bared that the gap in terms of scoring with her teammates was addressed in the dugout.
"It was addressed earlier in the dugout. I mean, I guess it’s becoming a concern since volleyball is a team effort. It’s not just about one person. You really can’t win when the scoring gap is that wide,” the three-time UAAP champion and three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player (MVP) told the media in Filipino.
"But I guess on my part, I’m always doing my best to give what I know I can do for the team, and whatever help I can provide. And I think that also comes from my past experiences."
The Alas ace recorded a career-high of 29 points in a win against the Sisi Rondina-led Choco Mucho Flying Titans, and never scored below 20 points in her past six outings with her team. Belen shared that she was eager to show out against veteran team Creamline, especially coming from a win against the fan-favorite Flying Titans.
However, after the match, she assessed that there’s still a long way to match up and get close to Creamline’s caliber.
"I feel like we still have a long way to go. Since it’s Creamline, they’ve been together for a long time, and they already know each other inside out. As for us, we’re still getting there. But I can see that we have the potential to reach that level or at least keep pace with that style of play,” she shared.
Overall, Belen was glad to face off with the league’s most-decorated franchise.
"I’m very happy that I got to play against them today. I mean, I’ve faced them before, but I think that was back when I was still in high school. Now, I’m with a different team. I really gain a different kind of learning/insight from playing against teams that have been together for so long."