Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—University of Santo Tomas is one win away from breaking a nearly decade-long curse, but rookie star Eya Laure reminded her teammates not to be too confident.
The Golden Tigresses took Game 1 in commanding fashion over a shell-shocked Ateneo, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20, Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum but Laure gave a reminder that the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament is not yet over.
“I told Ate Sisi (Cherry Rondina) during the huddle after our win that we shouldn’t be complacent because there’s still one more game left to play,” said Laure in Filipino.
“The fight isn’t over because there are still so many things that could happen on Wednesday [for Game 2].”
Laure won the league’s Rookie of the Year and first Best Outside Hitter plums after she finished with a total of 230 points and average of 16.4 points a game during the eliminations, but she was quiet for much of Game 1.
Laure, however, didn’t have to do much with Rondina waxing hot with 23 points. Still, the young star came away with 11 points.
UST last won the title in 2010 when the school still had the likes of Rhea Dimaculangan, Angge Tabaquero, and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and from that time until Season 81, the Golden Tigresses made the Final Four just three times.
Laure may have said that she and her teammates shouldn’t be complacent, but she expressed her confidence in the program head coach Kung Fu Reyes set out for them.
“We just have to have the right mindset,” said Laure. “We trust in coach Kung Fu’s program and everything he’s given to us in training is what molded us as players.”