Four games into the season, there are still several questions for the FEU Lady Tamaraws to answer.
Pegged as one of the title favorites heading into Season 79, the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws have so far been underwhelming, as they’ve piled up a 2-2 record. Statistically, the Lady Tamaraws are in the bottom half of the league in five of the six measured skills.
And head coach Shaq Delos Santos has been dismayed by FEU’s slow start. Even after their win over the University of the East Lady Warriors last Saturday, the fourth-year mentor was visibly alarmed with how his team had surrendered a set.
To make matters worse, Delos Santos benched starting opposite spiker Toni Basas and libero Kyla Atienza for reasons he declined to reveal.
“Nakaka-disappoint kasi lahat naman ginagawa namin sa ensayo. Actually, maganda ang nilalaro nila sa ensayo. Pagdating lang sa game talaga nagkakaroon nang mga problema.
“Intact nga kami so hindi namin ine-expect na ganito ang ilalaro namin,” said Delos Santos, who had only lost one player from the almost-finalists Season 78 squad.
The Lady Tamaraws have addressed one issue: settling on sophomore Gel Cayuna to take over the starting setter position. Their biggest problem, however, has been the errors, surrendering eight infractions per set.
Looking ahead, Delos Santos knows his team, most likely, needs to sweep their remaining three first-round matches for an easier road to the Final Four
“Wala na talaga kaming room ngayon para sa talo. Mas competitive ang field ngayon kumpara last year,” thought Delos Santos.
Their last three matches, however, are a gauntlet of tests; teams they had beaten twice last season have all improved. First, they face Jaja Santiago and the National University Lady Bulldogs on Saturday. Last season, Santiago set her career-high in points against FEU (30) in their second round, five-set classic encounter.
“Talagang maganda ang nilalaro nila. Sa tingin ko, kumpara sa amin, mas maganda ang pinapakita nila. So kailangan namin idaan sa training; dapat lahat ng ginagawa nila, handa kami,” Delos Santos thought.
After that, FEU have the league-leading University of the Philippines Lady Maroons on Wednesday, then the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses next Saturday.
If the Lady Tamaraws want to finally crack the Finals again after nine years, they’ll need to play at their highest level since the season started, starting against NU.
