By Krizza Gabrielle Tabora

With the second half of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 88 underway, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws aim to continue their dominance. As their games become tougher, however, green-and-gold head coach Eddieson Orcullo emphasized the importance of mental and emotional grit beyond individual skills.

“Pagdating sa utak at sa damdamin namin, hindi namin nakikita ‘yan. Sasabihin mo okay ka, pero hindi ka naman talaga okay. Masaya ka, pero ‘di ka pala talaga masaya. Siguro dapat lang magkaunawaan ulit kami dito sa hard court. (When it comes to our mind and our feelings, those aren’t visible. You say that you’re okay, but you’re not really okay. You seem happy but you really aren’t. Maybe we just need to understand each other here again in the hard court),” he stated during the post-game conference in their win against the University of the East (UE) yesterday.

Despite the victory, however, they opened their first set with a loss, 19-25, where they ultimately gained momentum and sealed the win in four sets. 

Orcullo did not see UE’s first-set win as a surprise, rather something he had already expected as other teams ramp up their efforts to add to their win tally. 

“Expected kasi na lalaban talaga si UE, alam natin ‘yung seven teams na ‘yan, wala naman ni isa diyan na pupunta dito sa UAAP tapos iisipin, ‘di naman sila lalaban eh,’ so pagtungtong nila sa court: hard court, hard game (It’s expected that UE will really fight back. We know that of those seven teams, not a single one of them comes into the UAAP thinking, ‘they’re not going to compete anyway.’ So the moment they step onto the court, it’s a hard court, it’s a hard game),” he shared.

The match against the red-and-white squad also showcased some of the Tamaraws’ bench players in rotation, such as Luis Miguel who was out during the first round due to a knee injury. 

As other players stepped onto the court, the green-and-gold squad head coach expressed his trust in the team, commending their ‘uniqueness.’

“Confident ako sa 16 [players] na na-line up [namin]. Every single moment na maglalaro kami nang sama-sama, lahat sila may shine na different (I’m confident in the 16 players we lined up. Every single moment we play together, each of them shines in their own way),” Orcullo expressed.

Stronger after setbacks

Meanwhile, Amet Bituin looked back on their Season 87 finish, emphasizing that the team aims to take a different approach this season while having one goal in mind—a championship finish.

The outside hitter also acknowledged the criticism thrown at them of having ‘peaking’ tendencies, which he believes that the team has completely moved away from. 

“Ang dami po nilang sinasabi na, ‘Ay, pagtapos ng first round, second round, tapos na mag-peak ‘yang mga ‘yan.’ Inalis po namin ‘yung mga peaking na ‘yan, kasi depende po ‘yan sa’min pa’no namin tatrabahuhin, paano namin panghahawakan ‘yung mga binibigay sa’ming responsibilidad (A lot have been saying that, ‘after the first round or the second round, their peak is already done.’ We removed those ideas about peaking, because it really depends on us, how we put in the work and how we handle the responsibility given to us),” Bituin shared.

Despite the mounting pressure of maintaining their spotless record, the Orcullo-led squad continue to power through to the final leg of the eliminations round as they aim for another Final appearance.

(Photo by James Neil Tamayo/FEU Advocate)