Worth the wait: UST rookie Eya Laure dazzles in collegiate debut

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—The two-year wait is over and Eya Laure was finally able to showcase her skills in the collegiate level of the UAAP as a full-fledged member of University of Santo Tomas.

Laure was quick to display her abilities as she led the Golden Tigresses to a five-set win over Adamson University, 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-16, in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Starting in her first collegiate game, Laure put up 17 points on 13 spikes, three blocks, and an ace in a moment she waited patiently for.

“I’m just thankful because I was able to showcase the talent that coach Kung Fu [Reyes] built up when I played for him in high school,” said Laure in Filipino.

Laure was supposed to go to the Golden Tigresses in 2017 after she graduated high school but this was also the time that the K-12 program was implemented and she had no choice but to endure two more years of senior high school instead of becoming a college student right away.

Those two years, however, are over and Laure was just happy she finally got to play in front of thousands of supporters for the first time in her young career.

“I’m super happy and overwhelmed when I saw the UST crowd and they really helped us fight better,” said Laure, who played in front of 15,400 spectators in her debut.

“Before we played the coaches told us that there would be a lot of people in the audience and they just told us to focus on the game.”