Saddled with a sling over her right arm, Ej Laure watched the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses’ first match of Season 80 on the sidelines. The 5-foot-9 open spiker will miss the entire season due to a severe right shoulder injury.
When it was initially announced that she would miss Season 80, the 20-year-old became the subject of online rumors due to the vague description of her injury.
Speaking with the media, the Season 77 Rookie of the Year shared the extent of her injury and addressed her online detractors.
Laure recalled first suffering pain from the injury when she missed therapy sessions in the buildup to Season 79, due to their training camp in Thailand. The pain became almost unbearable in the 2017 PSL All-Filipino Conference.
The UST senior was also dismissive of the rumors of her pregnancy, conceding that she cannot control what people think.
“Siyempre, tao din naman sila, meron silang sariling opinyon. Hindi ko naman maiiwasang ‘wag sabihin sa kanila na, ‘wag, ‘di ganon. Sa kanila na rin ‘yun,” Laure said. “Wala, siyempre, hindi naman natin lahat gusto eto.
“Siguro kailangan na rin natin tanggapin na makaka-miss ako ng isang season kasi sa injury ko.”
Though the Golden Tigresses will miss their best scorer, Laure thinks her teammates can carry their own weight.
“Sa tingin ko naman okay naman sila,” expressed Laure, who powered UST to a third-place finish a year ago.
“Nag-training naman sila and nakita ko naman sila sa training. And nagstra-strive talaga silang bumalik sa Final Four.”
