FAR Eastern University legend-turned-women’s volleyball head coach Tina Salak has been part of a UAAP rivalry with University of Santo Tomas for nearly three decades now.
Back then, the UST-FEU rivalry was the best the sport had to offer, as they contested 15 straight championships from 1988 to 2003.
For Salak, the secret to the Lady Tamaraws' nine titles in that stretch was what she described as an aggressive, must-win approach every single time their rivals stood opposite them.
“Kapag natatalo kami sa UST, automatic na may parusa. Ganun kasimple. Iba yung pride eh,” Salak shared with SPIN.ph after this version of the green-and-gold completed a Season 87 eliminations sweep of the Golden Tigresses.
READ: Lady Tams put on encore win vs Golden Tigresses for joint third
“Naranasan ko yun dun sa mga seniors ko na sinasabi nilang hindi dapat maka-set (ang UST). Kapag nagka-fifth set man, kailangang talo sila. Ganun kabigat yung rivalry namin.
“Hindi rin biro yung mga kasabayang players ko sa UST kasi pang-national team level yung kanilang lineup that time. Hindi rin nawawala yung certain energy na once matalo ka ng UST, (mapapatanong ka kung) bakit?”
The 48-year-old FEU icon was part of Morayta's two title wins at UST’s expense in 1998 and 2001.
Passing the still-burning rivalry torch
Fast forward to her coaching career for her alma mater, it continues to be quite the struggle for Salak to deal with the fact that there are things she couldn’t control as directly as she used to as a player.
But at the end of the day, what she can instill in her young Lady Tamaraws is the fighting spirit to keep the modern-day edition of one of Philippine volleyball’s greatest rivalries alive.
“Hindi nawawala. Mas mataas lang siguro yung expectations ko dahil iba na yung status namin. Ako na yung nagko-coach,” Salak said.
“Sometimes kasi, hindi mo rin ma-control kasi nu’ng player ako, kaya kong control-in kung anong gusto kong laro eh. This time kasi, (ako) yung magdi-dictate, (ako) pa rin yung magga-guide, so hindi (ko) siya masyadong kontrolado.
“Ang sinasabi ko sa kanila, yung rivalry, kailangan nilang buhayin even if iba na yung setup. Elimination man yan, second round man yan, kailangang buhay na buhay yung rivalry.”
Whatever the result may be, it’s pride over anything else for Salak as the central figure of FEU women’s volleyball then and now.
“Ang sa’kin lang is yung pride. Nothing personal. Laro lang. We love the game, pero nandu’n yung pride,” she said
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