Well, I sent my writing to a writing contest or two over the years and it never got anywhere so, going from those experiences, I wasn't betting on any sort of victory. I still hoped we could do well, but it was mainly coming from how much we know people like the game. More or less "a lot of people like the game, so who knows." In the end I was hopeful we'd at least make it to the shortlist, and I wished we went as far as getting an award.
I can't speak for the others in detail, but in general we were unsure. To be honest submitting the game at all seemed like a silly idea in the first place. We also didn't know how well a visual novel like Minotaur Hotel would fare in a lineup of more experimental and mechanics-oriented games.