In UAAP Season 87, the FEU Lady Tamaraws will work to prove themselves worthy of head coach Tina Salak’s return from greener pastures.
The FEU Lady Tamaraws welcomed a familiar face back into the fold during their offseason build up for UAAP Season 87, as head coach Tina Salak returned to her post after a year of Manolo Refugia stepping in for her role.
After attempting to pursue life overseas, Salak fulfilled her promise of coming back to FEU, especially after a successful Final Four stint last year, where they pushed eventual champions NU Lady Bulldogs to the brink in their semifinals series.
But now with everything going back to 0-0, the Lady Tamaraws are eager to show Salak the reason why she came home.
That is, the volleybelles from Morayta are eager to be Salak’s best students, who will also be able to give her the best results.
After Salak fulfilled her promise to go back, Chenie Tagaod believes it’s the players’ time to make good on their end of the bargain.
“Sakin, sobrang happy namin and sobrang thankful namin kasi tinupad niya yung sinabi niya na babalikan niya kami. Ngayon, binibigay namin yung best namin para worth it yung pagbalik niya,” Tagaod told
One Sports during the UAAP Media Day.
“Sobrang excited ngayong upcoming season kasi nga sobrang daming pasabog and magugulat kayo sa FEU,” she added.
Last season, FEU fell just one win short of the Finals when the Lady Tamaraws dragged the Lady Bulldogs to a winner-take-all Game 2.
Now with more expectations on their shoulders, Tagaod said that they truly believe in themselves this time around — especially after proving themselves against the best teams in Season 86.
“Like yung sa Game 1 namin against NU from semis, parang dun kami huhugot na kaya pala namin. Dati, parang hindi namin naisip na ganon na pala yung team namin pero ngayon, sobrang laki ng naimprove ng team so, dun mas huhugot kami,” said Tagaod.
“Mas dala namin yung kagustuhan namin na manalo talaga and hopefully sana makapasok sa Finals.”
When it comes to their preparations, Tagaod remained coy on how much they’ve worked. Rather, she told people to wait and see.
“Ngayon, pino-polish talaga namin lahat. Tignan natin sa UAAP. Yun lang masasabi ko,” she said.