Eya Laure not yet ready to leave UST

“WILL I leave UST and the UAAP to pursue other opportunities?”

This is the question that lingers in the mind of Eya Laure. And every time, Laure’s answer to that question is that she is not ready to leave her beloved school yet.

Laure said she will still play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) because she has “unfinished business to settle” for the Golden Tigresses, practically implying that she doesn’t want to leave without winning a UAAP championship for UST.

“The reason why I’m still here is because I’m not ready to leave the things that I haven’t finished doing yet. Every time I think of leaving UST (to pursue other opportunities), I think I don’t want to do that just yet because I still have unfinished business,” said Laure.

“I told the coaches that I will just decide (on whether I will leave UST) after the season. This might be my last playing year but it still depends. Every season, there’s the standards, expectations, and pressure that is being thrown at me. I just try to be comfortable with whatever that is thrown at me. I will just play and do my best.”

Laure and the Golden Tigresses came within a win away from clinching the UAAP Season 82 women’s volleyball championship in 2019 after taking Game 1, but the Ateneo Lady Eagles won the next two games to seize the gold.

After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Laure and company then finished third in Season 84 last year.

Laure, who will turn 24 years old next month, said she is excited for Season 85 as they finally had an ideal buildup.

“I’m excited and happy for this season. It’s good that we finally had preseason tournaments that have us warmed up unlike last season coming off a two-year break where we just played right away. I’m happy and excited because we have new players, the rookies that you guys saw played in the preseason leagues,” she said.

“The training that we had in the preseason allowed us to get to know each other on how to play and how to recover. We were able to bond as well so as a team, internal and external, we are healthy. I’m very excited. What we’re just thinking right now is how are we going to play as one this tournament.”