FEU women’s volleyball head coach Manolo Refugia expressed his confidence with the squad’s preparations for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 86 despite the departures of crucial players from the team.

“Preparation-wise, lahat naman nabibigyan ng pwesto sa training so ‘yong mga pwesto nila, little adjustments lang kaya naging madali naman sa training ‘yong pagkawala no’ng tatlo (Preparation-wise, everyone gets a spot during training anyway so with their spots, only little adjustments are needed which is why the training was easy despite the absence of the three players),” he said during an interview with FEU Advocate.

Refugia took over the team following the end of season 85 when former head coach Cristina Salak stepped down from her position after improving the win-loss record of the team by five wins.

With his leadership, the Morayta-based volleybelles showed a promising performance as they completed the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Tournament with a podium finish, taking home bronze medals.

However, in the same offseason, supposed players for the Lady Tamaraws season 86 roster, Shiela Kiseo, Maxine Juangco, and Kiesha Bedonia, ended their stints with the team to begin their separate professional careers in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL), causing a significant loss for the green-and-gold squad.

The FEU coach still showed his positivity in how they want to reach their aim for the season despite this.

“Ang goal namin is makita namin [uli] ‘yong ginawa namin last season and makapasok ng Final Four. Siguro para magawa namin ‘yon, [dapat] mas maging consistent pa kami sa trainings and mabaon namin ‘yong mga natutuhan namin sa pre-season tapos ‘yong ginawa naming preparation bago ‘tong UAAP (Our goal is to see again what we did last season and enter the Final Four. Maybe to do that, we should become more consistent during trainings and bring the lessons from pre-season and our preparations before the UAAP with us),” he added.

The Refugia-led Lady Tamaraws will start their season 86 campaign as the women’s volleyball tournament officially commences on Saturday, February 17.

-Vince Matthew Jaramilla

(Photo by Justine Jaerigg/FEU Advocate)