Lady Tamaraws out to exorcise ghosts of previous heartbreaks
Far Eastern University coach Tina Salak urged the Lady Tamaraws to stay present and move on from their past heartbreaks.
The Lady Tamaraws fell short in the past two Final Four matches against the Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon-led National University Lady Bulldogs, who eventually won the last two UAAP championships after surviving FEU’s tough challenges.
This season, FEU lost two of its first three games. But Salak asked her wards to focus on writing a new story.
“It’s about committing themselves to what we want to achieve. You can see their passion because this is the season now. There’s no looking back. We talk about the ‘ghost of 87.’ We don’t want that to haunt us again,” said Salak in Filipino after FEU’s 22-25, 30-28, 25-17, 25-20 victory over Adamson in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“This Season 88, everything is about their effort. They help us bring out our best as coaches and we help them bring out their best as players.”
The Lady Tamaraws are now tied with Adamson and University of Santo Tomas at 2-2 (win-loss), but Salak is calling for more consistency from the squad.
“There are times, though, when these young players seem to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. I always remind them not to let that become a habit because it wastes all the work we put in during training,” she said.
“It’s really about focusing on ourselves first. Once we know we’re ready, then we can say we’re prepared to fight any team. As long as our team is ready, we’ll be ready for anyone.”
Faida Bakanke, who unleashed 22 points from 17 kills and five blocks, was happy with how they stuck together despite the challenging start.
“I’m happy with my teammates because of the things they did. We always play with each other and we don’t want to see someone lacking. If you lack [something], you can move on and we are there to try to push you and boost your confidence and motivate you,” said the Congolese spiker.
Bakanke thanked her coaches and teammates for staying patient with each other, as they promised to continue working together, whatever happens.
“I think it’s more about the motivation coming from the coaches because sometimes, you don’t need to depend on yourself; you should also depend on your teammates. And they should always be there. That’s why I say we always play for each other. You should feel what other players feel. Try to share a lot of motivation with your teammates. And it is something that boosts us to be strong,” Bakanke said.
FEU eyes its third win against Ateneo on Wednesday at the same venue.
