Eya Laure was overwhelmed.
With the match coming down to a grind from the second set onward, the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses’ rookie wunderkind was making mistakes that propelled La Salle to leads.
It got so bad that, at one point, the 19-year-old needed to be subbed out as she failed to receive La Salle’s targeted serves.
Instead of sulking on the sidelines, Laure spent most of her time on the bench doing solo ball control drills.
At this point – in her first UAAP Women’s Volleyball Final Four experience and the biggest game for the program since Season 73 – Laure realized that there were more important things than herself.
“Whatever it takes.
“‘Yun lang ‘yung, parang kumbaga ginamit namin sa game na ito. Whatever it takes, gagawin namin lahat talaga,” Laure said, drawing inspiration from the Avengers: Endgame film.
The Tigresses earned the twice-to-beat advantage over La Salle, and Laure still finished with 17 points.
“And ‘yung mga posibleng, pwedeng mangyari… Sabi nga ni Ate Si (Rondina) sa amin noong huddle din, wala namang mawawala sa atin. Gawin lang natin kung anong kaya natin as a team, and walang bibitaw, walang susuko basta-basta,” the UST lifer continued.
“Hangga’t kaya, lumaban, whatever it takes.”
The former UAAP Juniors MVP was conscious of not letting UST’s win get to her head. They feel they can achieve more this season – and need just three more wins to earn a title.
“Mindset ko is ‘wag lang maging complacent sa kung ano ‘yung meron. Kasi kumbaga, anytime kung mag-relax kami, puwedeng mawala ito eh.
“So in order para makapasok sa next naming goal, [what we need] is maging consistent. ‘Wag maging complacent, wag mag-relax; mag-tiwala sa sarili, mag-work hard pa as a team, lalo na sa training. And yun, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes, ganoon talaga. Gawin talaga yung best, yun talaga,” she closed.
