Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are eager to rise after a challenging season opener against defending champions University of Santo Tomas Tiger Sands in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 87 men’s and women’s beach volleyball tournaments earlier today, November 15, at the Sands SM by the Bay in Pasay City. 

Lady Tamaraws Melody Pons and Lovely Lopez struggled in their opening match, losing in straight sets, 16-21, 14-21.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, rookie volleybelle Lopez revealed that her first collegiate beach volleyball experience came with valuable lessons. 

“Siyempre, freshman dito sa beach, parang nag-a-adjust pa rin sa system, pero nakakasabay naman sa sistema ng coaches (Being a freshman here in beach volleyball, I’m still adjusting to the system, but I’m keeping up with the coaches' plan),” Lopez shared. 

Despite the loss, veteran player Pons valued the opportunity to face the defending champions, showing determination to learn from the experience.

“Magandang experience ‘to dahil sila ang champion team and marami kaming natutuhan sa kanila. So, next game, kailangan namin mas pag-igihan pa at mas paghirapan pa ‘yung mga kailangan[g] trabahuhin para makuha ang magandang resulta (This is a great experience because they are the champion team, and we learned a lot from them. So, for the next game, we need to push harder and work even more on the things we need to improve on to achieve a better result),” the green-and-gold spiker said.

Meanwhile, the rookie-laden Tamaraws also faced a tough challenge, as they got swept, 14-21, 9-21.

Amet Bituin, a key player for the Tamaraws, stressed the importance of continuous improvement.

“Siguro, mas pupuliduhin pa namin ‘yung mga galaw namin, and kailangan[g] mas higitan namin ‘yung first game namin tapos every game, dapat umaangat nang umaangat, may nag-i-improve (We will refine our movements more, and we need to perform better than our first game. Every game, we should keep improving and getting better),” Bituin expressed.

With a strong resolve to recover from the defeat, Reynan Postorioso committed to perform better in the upcoming matches.

“Next game, gusto namin makabawi sa kanila at para makabawi rin sa mga kuya namin (Next game, we want to make it up to them and also make our older teammates proud),” the rookie stated.

With their eyes set on victory, the Morayta-based spikers gear up to face Adamson University and National University (NU) in the men's division, and University of the East and NU in the women's division tomorrow, November 16, at the same venue.

- Aine Peralta
(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)