FILE– Tina Salak. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Tina Salak has been named as Far Eastern University (FEU) women’s volleyball team head coach, replacing George Pascua starting UAAP Season 85.
The former Lady Tamaraw, who emerged as one of the best setters in the country, is set to make her coaching debut in the seniors’ division.
The school on Wednesday welcomed Salak as she takes charge of the rebuilding Lady Tamaraws who suffered their worst finish in Season 84 with only one win in 13 matches.
“Coach Tina brings a wealth of experience and championship pedigree as a player and a coach as she returns to her alma mater,” the school wrote. “Let us wish Coach Tina and the Lady Tamaraws the best as the team prepares for UAAP Season 85.”
Salak, who played for Army and the Philippine women’s volleyball team, is no longer a stranger in coaching as she steered De La Salle Zobel to a UAAP Season 81 girls volleyball championship and is currently part of Jorge Edson Souza De Brito’s staff in the national squad.
The former 1995 UAAP MVP won two championships in the league. Salak also won the last four medals of the country in the Southeast Asian Games with a silver medal in 1997 and three straight bronze in the next three editions including a Best Setter award in the 2001 games in Kuala Lumpur.
The 45-year-old setter last played for Chery Tiggo as a playing assistant coach in the team’s title run in the 2021 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
FEU expressed its gratitude to Pascua, who served the Lady Tams for five years with a 23-26 record in four seasons, in a separate post.
“Thank you, Coach George Pascua. A champion FEU coach, a champion FEU student-athlete, forever a Tamaraw. We wish you well in the next chapter of your career,” the statement read
Pascua had an impressive first season in 2018, leading the Lady Tamaraws to the UAAP Season 80 Finals only to be swept by the La Salle Lady Spikers. FEU fell a game short of returning to the Finals in Season 81, losing its do-or-die Final Four match to eventual champion Ateneo, before only playing two games in 2020 when the pandemic canceled the season.