By Abby Toralba
ONLY University of Santo Tomas managed to dent De La Salle University’s armor in the eliminations of the 85th UAAP women’s volleyball championship but the Golden Tigresses are still considered the underdogs in their Final Four battle against the Lady Spikers.
That doesn’t matter for ace spiker Eya Laure, who is ready to display her winning flair and tough form to lead the Golden Tigresses to the Promised Land.
UST battles De La Salle tomorrow, with the Lady Spikers, the No. seed in the semifinals, armed with a twice-to-beat edge.
The Golden Tigresses, who finished as the No. 4 team with a 10-4 mark in the eliminations, need to win to force a winner-take-all battle for a finals berth and Laure, 24, is ready to defy the odds
“La Salle is La Salle, may system sila na matibay. Ipapakita lang din namin iyong system namin sa UST,” said Laure, who exploded for 28 points and 14 digs against UP last Sunday.
“May rivalry na rin sa pagitan ng UST at La Salle kaya motivating factor sa amin ‘yun. We respect La Salle kaya paghahandaan namin sila,” she added.
In their first-round battle, UST lost a five-setter to La Salle but the Golden Tigresses got their revenge in the second round.
Laure is in the running for an individual award but that’s the farthest thing in her mind right now.
“Hindi ko iniisip (ang individual award); mas gusto ko talagang mag-champion, maka-appear sa championship podium. Siyempre, nasa senior year na din ako. Nandoon iyong attention ko ngayon,” she said.
The Kungfu Reyes-coached Golden Tigresses are out to end a 13-year championship drought, having last won the title back in Season 72.
