Eya Laure stepped up to the plate when Chery Tiggo needed a light to guide them through the crucial stage of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference elimination round.
With their semifinal hopes at stake, Laure cleared the path for the Crossovers to move to the cusp of advancing to the next round.
The sweet-hitting open spiker served as the driving force in Chery Tiggo’s winning run, which saw them plow over PLDT, 25-22, 25-16, 25-20, last Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City before crushing Akari, 25-17, 25-20, 25-17, on Saturday in an out-of-town game at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.
Her back-to-back stellar showings were enough to earn her a second straight PVL Press Corps Player of the Week nod for the period of April 16 to 20 in the flourishing professional league organized by Sports Vision.
The University of Santo Tomas product finished with 12 points collected from nine attacks and three blocks, while also protecting the floor with seven excellent digs to stun the High-Speed Hitters.
The sophomore followed it up with 14 points built on nine attacks, three blocks, and two aces in the Crossovers’ rout of the Chargers to join Final Four-bound Petro Gazz, Creamline, and Choco Mucho in the tight semis race with identical 8-2 win-loss records.
Chery Tiggo needs to win one more game as it currently holds inferior points compared to the three with PLDT (7-3) still lurking close by for the last semis seat.
With her collegiate mentor still by her side even in the pro league, Laure continues to embrace the trust and lessons she learned from coach Kungfu Reyes.
“Siguro kung ano ‘yung mga sinasabi ni coach Kungfu dati, lagi ko yung nire-recall kasi sometimes yung pagti-tiwala sa sarili, sometimes ‘di siya enough for me. Malaking bagay si coach Kungfu talaga na nagre-remind kung sino talaga ako, kung ano ba yung napag-hirapan ko dati na kayang-kaya kong dalhin sa pro,” Laure said.
“That’s why hanggang sa pro parang kumbaga nagagawa ko siya, yun din siguro dahil talaga kay coach Kungfu.”
Laure has been instrumental in Chery Tiggo’s blistering six-game winning streak sparked by a shocking sweep of defending champion Creamline in the same Laguna venue.
Since then, the Crossovers have not lifted their foot off the gas pedal and continued knocking down foes that stood in their way.
Chery Tiggo has no plans of slowing down with only one game left in their preliminary schedule against Galeries Tower on Thursday at Philsports Arena.
“Lagi namang pinapaalala sa amin ng mga coaches at lahat na respetuhin yung kalaban. Siyempre, babalik kami sa training, pag-aaralan ulit namin sila, may mga scouting pa rin kami na kumbaga kung ano yung normal na ginagawa namin sa ibang team, gagawin din namin dito sa Galeries kasi nagte-training sila araw-araw, pinagtatrabahuhan nila yung mga panalo,” Laure said.
“Siyempre, player din sila, team din sila, gusto rin nilang manalo. Kami, sa aming panig, babalik kami sa training, programa, at sistema na ibinibigay ni coach Kungfu sa amin.”
Laure edged out her teammate libero Jennifer Nierva, Farm Fresh’s Trisha Tubu, Creamline’s Tots Carlos and Alyssa Valdez, Petro Gazz’s Brooke van Sickle, and Cignal’s Jov Gonzaga for the weekly citation given by print and online scribes covering the league, which is also being aired live at www.pvl.ph.
“I hope magpatuloy talaga siya hanggang sa remaining game namin. Yung bond na nabuo namin sana madala namin hanggang dulo at nakikita naman din siguro, evident siya sa laro na napapakita namin na lagi kaming… we got each other’s backs nga talaga,” she said.
