Chery Tiggo’s Eya Laure squares off against former teammate Sisi Rondina in the PVL Invitational Conference. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Eya Laure relished her on-court reunion with former University of Santo Tomas teammates Sisi Rondina and Caitlin Viray despite Chery Tiggo’s straight-set loss to Choco Mucho in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Invitational Conference classification match.
Viray and Rondina had the last laugh against their UAAP Season 81 teammate Laure as Choco Mucho swept Chery Tiggo, 25-20, 26-24, 25-15, to clinch seventh place on Saturday at Philsports Arena.
Laure had a fun time playing against her fellow Tigresses for the first time since they led UST to the UAAP Finals in 2019 but settled for runner-up after losing to Ateneo, bannered by Deanna Wong, Maddie Madayag, Kat Tolentino, and Bea De Leon, who are now teammates by Rondina and Viray.
“I’m happy because we are all in the same league despite playing for different teams but we still bring the learnings we got from UST,” said Laure in Filipino after scoring 11 points. “I’m happy for all of us including my teammates ate EJ Laure and Imee [Hernandez]. We’re having a healthy competition against each other.”
“We had a chance to throw jokes at each other. But when it comes to the game, we did our jobs but outside the court, we’re all friends,” she added.
Choco Mucho’s Sisi Rondina. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Rondina, who scored 15 points in her first battle against Eya and EJ as well as Chery Tiggo assistant coach KungFu Reyes, was thrilled to see their careers grow in the professional ranks.
“It’s like UST’s transition. It’s good to see my former teammates grow from their respective teams. I saw the maturity of their game. We just played our game for Choco Mucho,” said the former UAAP Season 81 MVP.
Viray, who unleashed a career-high 22 points, agreed with her Choco Mucho teammate.
“It felt like we were college again. I missed this feeling. We used to play together inside the court but now, we’re playing for different teams. I’m happy for everyone even though we have different paths now,” Viray said.
Laure also lauded the improvement of Viray, who had a breakthrough performance as a starting opposite spiker this season.
“Ate Cait improved a lot since college. She has been a fighter since college. I’m happy because she has been contributing to her team. As an open spiker myself, I am also learning a lot from her,” said the Chery Tiggo rookie.