Cristina Salak (born August 10, 1976) is a Filipino

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

coach and former volleyball player.

Career

Playing career

Club

Salak became SVL Season 8, 2nd Conference champion with

Philippine Army Lady Troopers The Philippine Army Lady Troopers is the official women's professional volleyball team of the Philippine Army. The team is composed of enlisted personnel and reinforced with civilian players from time to time. The Lady Troopers competes in the P ...

, she was SVL Season 8, SEA Club Invitational Runner-Up, and SVL Season 9, 2nd Conference and

Season 10 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

bronze medalist. She was again SVL Season 11, 2nd Conference champion before being silver medalist during the SVL Season 11, Reinforced Open, SVL Season 12, Open Conference and SVL Season 12, Reinforced Open. For the

2013 PSL Invitational Conference The 2013 PSL Invitational was the inaugural tournament of the Philippine Super Liga of professional volleyball for its maiden season. It was held from July 7, 2013 to July 28, 2013. The TMS-Philippine Army Lady Troopers emerged as the first PSL ...

she claimed again with the Philippine Army Lady Troopers the championship. Salak was named

Best Blocker and championship playing with TMS-Philippine Army Lady Troopers and 2014 PSL All-Filipino Conference champion and Most Valuable player with Generika-Army Lady Troopers. In June 2016, Salak announced her retirement as a player upon completing the 2016 season of the

PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

. She played her final PSL game on December 8, 2016. She announced her intention to pursue a coaching career. Salak would be appointed as an assistant coach for COCOLIFE Asset Managers. She would briefly resumed playing during the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

PSL Grand Prix conferences for COCOLIFE. Salak briefly played for the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Crossovers in the

2021 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference The 2021 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference was the tenth conference of the Premier Volleyball League and its first conference as a professional league. The conference started on July 17, 2021 and ended on August 13, 2021, at the PCV Soci ...

National team

Salak was part of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

that won bronze medal in the

2005 SEA Games The 2005 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Manila, Philippines. This was the third time the Philippines hosted the games and its first time since 1991. ...

in the women's indoor volleyball. She also competed under the Philippine flag in the 2005 AVC Qualification for the

2006 FIVB Women's World Championship The 2006 FIVB Women's World Championship was the fifteenth edition of the competition, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The final tournament was held from 31 October ...

held at

Ratchaburi Ratchaburi (, ) or Rajburi, Rat Buri) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in western Thailand, capital of Ratchaburi Province. Ratchaburi town covers the entire ''tambon'' Na Mueang (หน้าเมือง) of Mueang Ratchaburi District. As o ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. In 2015, she was named as one of the 18 select women for the tryouts held by the PVF. They were part of a national pool that was to represent the Philippines for the

2015 SEA Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, or the 28th SEA Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held by the city-state of Singapore from 5 to 16 June 201 ...

held in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Coaching

In February 2017, a new PSL team, COCOLIFE Asset Managers announced the appointment of Salak as its assistant coach. Salak resumed her role as assistant coach for the team, renamed United VC, in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Salak was the head coach of the

FEU Lady Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The university's high school varsity teams are called the ''FEU-D Baby Tamaraws, Baby Tamaraws'' ...

from 2022 to 2023. She was re-appointed head coach starting

UAAP Season 87 UAAP Season 87 was the 2024–25 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). It will be hosted by the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP) under the theme "Stronger, Better, Together". The opening ceremony was he ...

. In January 2024, Salak joined the

Akari Chargers The Akari Power Chargers are a women's volleyball team competing in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) in the Philippines. The team is owned by Akari Lighting & Technology Corporation. History The Akari Chargers was organized by Akari Light ...

as assistant coach. She became the team's head coach in June 2025.

Personal life

Salak has Pauline Gretel as her longtime partner. The couple entered into a

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

in Canada on January 29, 2024.

Clubs

(2005–2016) * COCOLIFE Asset Managers (2017–2018)

Awards

Individual

* '' Shakey's V-League 9th, 2nd Conference "Best Setter"'' * '' 2013 PSL Invitational Conference "Best Blocker"'' * '' 2014 PSL All-Filipino Conference "Most Valuable Player"''

Team

* SVL Season 8, 2nd Conference - Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* SVL Season 8, SEA Club Invitational - Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 9, 2nd Conference – Bronze medal, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 10, 2nd Conference – Bronze medal, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 11, 2nd Conference - Simple cup icon

Champion, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 11, Reinforced Open - Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 12, Open Conference - Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers * SVL Season 12, Reinforced Open - Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Philippine Army Lady Troopers *

Champion, with TMS-Philippine Army Lady Troopers * 2013 PSL Grand Prix Conference - Simple cup icon

Champion, with TMS-Philippine Army Lady Troopers * 2014 PSL All-Filipino Conference - Simple cup icon

Champion, with Generika-Army Lady Troopers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salak, Cristina 1976 births Living people University Athletic Association of the Philippines volleyball players Sportspeople from Cavite Far Eastern University alumni Philippines women's international volleyball players Filipino women's volleyball players Setters (volleyball) SEA Games bronze medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in volleyball Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games Filipino volleyball coaches Filipino LGBTQ sportspeople LGBTQ volleyball players FEU Lady Tamaraws volleyball players