By Peter Albert Soriano and Rupert Bhetz Marcelo

Will the dry spell of the Lady Tamaraws still continue, or will this year be the time to cop their 30th Championship Title and still be the winningest team?

With less than months of preparation for the upcoming University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 79 women's volleyball tournament, Bernadeth Pons, the outside hitter, Kyle Negrito, the setter, and Remy Palma, the middle blocker and the captain ball, charge up by vying in 2016 Philippine Super Liga (PSL) with the Petron Tri-Active Spikers team to reinforce the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws' longing to reign after their third spot finish last UAAP Season 78.

The Green-and-Gold squad created a buzz after upsetting the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers in five tight sets on Game 1 of the Semifinals of UAAP Season 78. But then, the Lady Tamaraws fell short after being conquered at the rubber-match of the semis.

“Nakaka-overwhelmed, nandoon na kami eh. Then ‘pagdating ng Game Two, ayun siguro nabitin lang, mas umangat lang siguro ‘yung pagiging experienced ng La-Salle (We were overwhelmed, we’re already there. Then during Game Two, we fell short and maybe the more experienced La-Salle stood up),” Palma shared her response about their loss in the semifinals last season.

“Hindi na pwede maulit na ganun nalang ulit, eto na ‘yung pinaka-chance namin lalo na sa akin dahil last playing year ko na, so ibubuhos ko na talaga ang lahat (I will not allow this to happen again, this is our only chance especially for me because it is my last playing year already so I will really give my all),” Palma added.

Presently, the trio were picked to ally with Petron Tri-Active Spikers, which now bore a 3-1 win-loss slate. They were battling out with mixed veteran players and underdogs of PSL.

“Sobrang laking tulong kasi mga veterans ang kasama namin and mga kalaban namin, every game and every training marami kaming natutunan sa kanila which is pwede naming ma-apply at maituro rin sa mga teammates namin (It helped a lot because we are playing with veterans and, every game and training, we learn a lot which we can apply and share with our other teammates),” Pons remarked about their experience in Petron Tri-Active Spikers.

Last April, Pons played in the PSL Beach Volleyball along with Kyla Atienza bearing the FEU-Petron team. The pair was overthrown by Foton Toplanders in the semis but they exited the season with a high note bagging bronze after reigning against Petron XCS.

“Ibang experience ‘yung makaabot ka sa semis, ‘yung lesson sa beach volley [ball] ay ‘yung ‘pag nandoon na ‘di na dapat bibitawan, dapat gagawin dapat lahat kung gusto namin mag-champion (It is a different experience when you reach semis. The lesson in beach volley is if you are already there you should not give up. You should do everything if you really want to be the champion),” said Pons.

For the impending season 79, the Morayta-based squad were building up their confidence, chemistry and strength and correcting the mistakes they have done last season.

“Maturity and consistency, dapat mas mag-strengthen pa kami, sa training naman nandyan pa ‘yung maitatama mo pa at pwede pa mag-adjust (We need to be stronger. In training, we can correct our errors and we can adjust),” Palma mentioned.

“Nandyan na pero konti pa (We are already there but a little bit more.)” Negrito added.

For now, the FEU Women's Volleyball Team need the support of the Tamaraws, for the upcoming UAAP season

“Paghihirapan talaga namin ngayon para maibalik sa FEU ‘yung crown. (We will really work hard to be able to bring back the crown in FEU),” Palma concluded.