MANILA, Philippines—In one of the tightest MVP races in recent memory, it was the rookie who made way for her veteran teammate.
University of Santo Tomas’ Eya Laure just missed out on the MVP plum of the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament with senior teammate Cherry Rondina taking the league’s top individual prize.
Laure, though, will be named the Rookie of the Year and the 1st Best Outside Hitter.
“I’m happy because Ate Sisi deserved the MVP and you can really see it in her game,” said Laure in Filipino Thursday at UST’s Quadricentennial Pavilion. “We thank the UAAP or whoever were the ones who decided on this award.”
Laure finished as the league’s second best scorer with a total of 230 points while Rondina amassed 259 total points en route to her second straight Best Scorer award together with the second Best Outside Hitter.
Despite raking in six of the league’s 11 individual awards, Laure said she and the rest of the Golden Tigresses don’t focus much on a single player’s glory but they would rather take the championship.
“We really want the bigger picture because we want the championship more than anything else,” said Laure.
UST last won the title in 2010, and was last seen in the finals in 2011, and this streak is what Laure and the rest of the Golden Tigresses want stopped.
Even head coach Kung Fu Reyes told them that there is nothing bigger than winning the championship.
Laure was also under the tutelage of Reyes in high school when she won the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the Girls’ Division.
“Coach Kung Fu told me since high school that the winners of the individual awards won’t be remembered every year,” said Laure. “The ones who are remembered more are those who win the titles.”