Photo from UAAP Media Bureau
MANILA – Heading into UAAP Season 85 with a relatively young squad, head coach Tina Salak tempered her expectations of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws.
But on Wednesday, the Lady Tams already exceeded one of the expectations of Salak for the season as they booked their third win at the expense of the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors.
FEU needed five sets to beat the Lady Warriors at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City to improve their record to 3-3 – good for fifth place.
“Sobrang happy na first round pa lang, I’ll be honest, na-exceed 'yung expectation. Since nandito na kami, 'di kami pwede huminto. Pwede namin i-achieve higher expectations na achievable naman dapat para tuloy-tuloy 'yung team, tuloy-tuloy 'yung journey namin ngayong Season 85,” Salak said after the match.
According to her, she does not want to get ahead of themselves in the ongoing season, given the disappointing performance of the squad right before she took over.
Last season, FEU finished dead last in the standings with a 1-13 slate.
She revealed that reaching three wins was one of her achievable expectations come Season 85.
“Mataas din 'yung expectation ng FEU pero sa 'kin kasi isa-isa. Hindi naman natin mase-settle eh. From the previous matches nila Season 84, ayoko na ring balikan. Ang hirap naman na dun kami magdu-dwell,” she continued.
“Sa 'kin, ang expectations ko one, maka-three wins, isa na 'yon. Achievable naman. Good thing lang na na-achieve namin kasama ang team members, help ng mga coaches.”
But there’s no stopping the Lady Tamaraws as Salak hopes to capture more Ws as the season progresses.
However, she declined to give a bold prediction if they can make it to the Final 4 after a good start in the first round.
“Tapusin muna natin 'yung first round. Du'n muna kami. Mag-settle muna kami ng first round. Baka too soon to say na achievable 'yung (Final) 4. Pero hindi naman masama mangarap pero ako one game at a time. Tapos muna kami first round,” Salak said.
“Pero since, naka-three wins kami, why not exceed pa natin ng more? Baka pwede nating lagyan ng konting spice,” she added.
FEU will cap its first round campaign with a tough assignment against the defending champions National University Lady Bulldogs.