The graduation of superstars Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon plus the core of its dominant champion squad hasn’t changed National University’s status in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup.

The Lady Bulldogs are still going to be the hunted ones.

The rest of the fifteen participating squads—10 from the NCAA and five from the UAAP—still consider NU as the team to beat after successfully ushering a new era in the National Invitationals Davao leg in July.

Vange Alinsug is out to lead the Lady Bulldogs with her fellow mainstays, two-time Best Setter Lams Lamina, Shaira Jardio, Arah Panique, and rookie Sam Cantada.

“Our team is rebuilding. We lost our seniors but our rookies, who were top players from high school, are there to step up and help us seniors,” Alinsug said in Filipino in the league launch on Wednesday in Makati City.

National U, which won three of the last four UAAP seasons, takes on NCAA teams in Pool A against coach KungFu Reyes’ new team, San Beda, Emilio Aguinaldo College and Lyceum.

“It’s going to be exciting. We will put up a good fight against any team, especially those who want to beat us. We will work hard until the end,” said Alinsug, the UAAP Season 87 co-Finals MVP with Jardio.

New NU coach Regine Diego, who the Inquirer reported on Wednesday had replaced Sherwin Meneses, said the coaching staff is urging their wards to stay even hungrier now that Belen and Solomon have graduated and turned.

Leave of absence

“This is going to be our rebuilding era. You can’t always be on top and you can’t expect to win all the time. We will just do our best and try to defend our title,” said Diego in Filipino.

Last edition’s runner-up De La Salle University and University of the East took a leave of absence from the competition after both squads expressed that they are still in the process of rebuilding their core following some key departures.

Luzon leg winner Far Eastern University and Cebu National Invitationals champion Adamson, led by rising star Shaina Nitura, will go at it in Pool B with Arellano and Jose Rizal University.

Detdet Pepito and the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses, under returning coach Shaq Delos Santos, and the new-look University of the Philippines, bannered by transferee Casiey Dongallo, are slotted in Pool C with Mapua and Letran.

Pool D is composed of four-time NCAA champion College of Saint Benilde, the rebuilding Ateneo, San Sebastian and University of Perpetual Help.

Dr. Ian Laurel, president and chairman of SSL organizer Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc., announced that the league is planning to hold an All-Star game featuring the former and current collegiate stars after the eliminations.

The top two teams of each pool will advance to the next round, where they will be divided into two groups for another round-robin play to determine their rankings in the quarterfinals.

The top two-ranked squads after the round will be armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the crossover quarterfinals.

The semifinals and battle for bronze are knockout affairs, while the championship round is a best-of-three series.