Tina Salak doesn’t believe La Salle is invincible, FEU sets out to burst that myth

Tina Salak and the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws will be the latest to take a shot at La Salle, and the legendary former UAAP star has only one thing on her mind as she tries to end the Lady Spikers’ undefeated Season 85 women’s season. volleyball championship began.

“Definitely, the team is weak,” Salak said in Filipino on the eve of the 12 noon match at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. “And that’s what we’re going to be looking for.”

La Salle is undefeated in four games, which is too much for freshman Angel Canino, Salak’s former ward at La Salle-Zobel where he won the high school title in 2018 as Salak began his promising coaching career. Another former Salak player is libero Justine Jazareno, who also played well.

“He’s definitely improved a lot,” Salak said of the 19-year-old Canino, the top spiker and second-leading scorer in the youth tournament. “He’s worked hard to get where he is now.”

FEU will boost their egos 25-12, 15-25, 19-25, 25-15, 18-16 against heavyweight Ateneo as they try to prevent La Salle from getting closer to their best starting duplication since Season 77. while the Lady Spikers open up with six-game winning streak.

With La Salle starting to blister, interim coach Noel Orcullo kept busy reminding his tall and young charges to keep their spirits up.

“I keep reminding myself that this is a long tournament,” Orcullo said in Filipino. “We can’t be complacent at the top, we have to keep working hard and improve every game.

“We have to improve ourselves so that our team can continue to grow,” said Orcullo, who is replacing the ill Ramil de Jesus. “By doing this, we can be sure that we will improve our game going into the second half [of eliminations].”

UST comeback?

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) is still licking its wounds from a straight set loss to Adamson after playing without Melina Alessandrini, against the University of the Philippines in a 2pm contest.

The Tigresses inflicted their first defeat on defending champions National University last week and ensured that Alessandrini, who is coming off two ACL surgeries, will be healthy for the tournament.

The Filipino-Italian forward suffered an ankle sprain against the Lady Bulldogs as Santo Tomas will once again look to Eya Laure to shoulder the offensive load.

“Our motivation going into the game is that we have to show La Salle that we can beat them,” Salak said. “But it’s like a David versus Goliath match—literally—because of the height of everything.”

“We have to stop everything, not just Angel,” he continued. “He also has a small weapon.”

Jov Fernandez, the leading scorer of the Lady Tamaraws, and Chenie Tagod will be Salak’s main weapons.

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