Sound as a Bell
Khat Bell, Chery Tiggo’s import, has been a force to be reckoned with so far in the PVL Reinforced Conference.
The American import has led the Crossovers to a respectable 2-0 start before that streak was snapped by rising Creamline Tuesday night—but it would take more than just that to keep Bell down.
“I think it’s normal to have a setback. Of course people are thinking about what they could have done better and that was one thing I tried to talk to them about,” she said. “It doesn’t matter now. At this point, let’s just learn from it.”
The veteran former Petron Blazers hitter has delivered steady numbers to help her new team sweep Farm Fresh in their opening game with 23 points and chased that down with another straight-sets win versus Nxled with 21 points.
But Creamline, an eight-time champion, is getting back in its prime form and that was enough to counter Bell’s 31-point performance. That’s behind her now as she shifts her focus to the next challenge.
“I think the most important thing is to go back on facing PLDT, which is also a great team. You gotta watch them, you gotta watch videos. We know what we’re good at, we gotta see what we’re lacking at right now,” Bell said.
“People are telling me that I don’t have to play so hard. But no, because it’s gonna help me furthermore moving forward. Today (Tuesday), I was obviously getting tired but I pushed through just because going into the next game, it’s gonna be the same situation,” she added as they face the undefeated Pool A leader.
Having played for various teams in different international leagues, Bell is not in a new situation with Chery Tiggo, which can’t allow its first loss of the conference dictate how it will play for the rest of the conference.
“I think I’ve had a lot of experience in my career about handling defeat. I think if you tend to dwell on it for too long, it can definitely affect you long term,” Bell said. “This is my first situation seeing how the team will react to losing, which isn’t as bad as it could have been. I think right now the girls are already back in high spirits.”
And just like what she says to Chery Tiggo after wins, the Crossovers would have to get over the loss quickly as well but not forget the lessons they learned from the game.
“Normally, even if we win games, I say … enjoy it but move on quickly. I think even tonight we want to move on faster but I trust them, they trust me. I think it’s easy just to have a short-term memory for tonight,” she added.
“The best thing that I can do is be me. Making sure my attitude is there, my experience is there, make sure to cheer the girls on and bring them up with me. PLDT and Creamline are two different teams … it’s definitely gonna be a different ball game,” Bell said. INQ
