UE Lady Warriors. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Head coach: Francis Vicente
Last year: 1-13 (8th)
Key losses: Celine Domingo
If there’s a team that would like to put Season 78 in the rearview mirror, it would be University of the East.
With the Lady Warriors winning just a single game the previous year, head coach Francis Vicente, plans to use that heartbreak as their first lesson coming into Season 79.
“That’s our lesson that we can never forget, that’s where you’ll do your plan for next year,” said Vicente.
READ: Winless no more, UE ends season with win over Adamson
What Vicente promises for Season 79 is a more mature team and a core that will become his foundation for the next three years.
A Final Four appearance, though, is something that could take a little more time.
He added that his new recruits, which he still keeps a secret, will be complementing the likes of Shaya Adorador, Roselle Baliton, and Judith Abil.
“By Season 80 all my players in UE would be at least six feet tall, and what we’re aiming for right now is to improve our rank. And we can’t look just yet in making the Final Four because that’d be hard),” said Vicente.
READ: Adorador back as Lady Warriors’ captain for UAAP
“I can’t say if we can win five times, we can win six times, or we can get to the fifth spot because I don’t have any basis for that.”
Vicente also made some shakeups in his team with 5th-year hitter Adorador getting the captaincy from beleaguered Celine Domingo and Baliton switching to setter from her usual role as a middle blocker.
With every team in the league stepping up their preparations, the veteran UE tactician said the league is looking like a whole new landscape for him.
Schools like University of Santo Tomas, National University, University of the Philippines and Ateneo sent their teams to Thailand and Japan as part of their buildup for the tournament.
Adamson, though it never left the country, shook up its coaching staff with the employment of American Airess Padda as the new head coach and UAAP icons Angelique Tabaquero and Michelle Gumabao as the assistants.
Vicente, though, doesn’t see his team causing major trouble in the standings saying it could be UP, which was the fourth seed in Season 78, which could be this year’s dark horse.
“It’ll be UP because Jerry is serious about it,” said Vicente. “I cannot say we’re the dark horses, it’s not yet the time, it’s not the right year. Maybe by next year we can brag, or we can reach the Final Four.”