By Gio Carlo D. Castro

Billed as one of the favorites to conquer the sands, Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Spikers returned to a familiar territory after facing their rival University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Spikers in the best-of-three championship series of University of Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 82 men’s beach volleyball Finals.

A week after the ‘Rematch of Rivalry’, FEU head coach Reynaldo Diaz Jr. pointed out all of their efforts throughout the campaign succeeding the Morayta-based sand spikers back-to-back silver titles.

“Ithink ang mahalaga sa lahat (what’s the most important) from management, from coaches [and] from players ay ginawa namin ‘yung best namin (we did our best),” Diaz remarked.

However, after copping their sixth silver finish, FEU bid farewell to their veteran-laden duo, as Jude Garcia and Kevin Hadlocon both maximized their five-year UAAP career. With this, Diaz revealed that he is set to make another program for his team. 

“Ngayon pa lang nagsta-start na sa utak ko ‘yung new program for beach volleyball kasi mag-out na rin [nga] si Kevin and si Garcia (As of now, I’m already starting a new program for beach volleyball in my brain because Kevin and Garcia will be out [of the league]),” he shared.

He then backed up, “So another challenge for the coaching staff, hindi titigil ang learnings [kasama na] ‘yung pag-try na makuha natin ‘yung gold (learnings won’t stop including the goal of getting the gold).”

Moreover, Diaz also admitted that the Tam Spikers will have a hard time replacing its strong bond and maturity from different triumvirates of Joshua Barrica, Richard Solis, Garcia, Hadlocon and Doy Barrica over the years.

“Mahirap din palitan ‘yung maturity na nawala sa atin. Ang coaching staff naman hindi nagtuturo basta, mino-mold natin ‘yung player sa skill nila at tsaka ‘yung character nila as a Tamaraw(It’s hard to replace the maturity that we lost. The coaching staff doesn’t just teach, we’re molding our players with their skill including their character as a Tamaraw),” he said.

Despite this setback, Coach Diaz remains grateful as his green-and-gold team went ‘All for More’ in showcasing the Tamaraw spirit that bolstered by years of experience, maturity and valuable learnings.

“Wala akong regrets kasi sabi ko nga sayo ginawa talaga namin ‘yung best namin (I don’t have any regrets because like what I said to you, we really did our best),” he said.

(See full album: UAAP 82 Men's Beach Volleyball - FEU vs UST)