Blue-chip recruit Karylle Sierba regains her bearings against La Salle after suffering an injury in her second game for the UST Growling Tigresses.
UST prized rookie Karylle Sierba continues to make an impact for the Golden Tigresses.
She proved her mettle once again, as Sierba was the second leading scorer in UST’s bounce-back win against the DLSU Lady Archers in their first round encounter of UAAP Season 87 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, September 29.
After scoring 18 points in her debut for the defending champions, Sierba’s game dipped as she dealt with a foot injury. But after finding themselves down at the half against the Lady Archers, the first-year player knew she needed to step up to the plate.
Playing heavy minutes as a rookie, Sierba repaid head coach Haydee Ong’s trust as she finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal in their come-from-behind win over DLSU.
Inspired by teammate and “big sister” Kent Pastrana, Sierba was able to contribute that much to the victory.
“Nung second game po kasi namin yung paa ko medyo na-injure so ang hirap ibalik syempre yung speed ko nabawasan. Yun nga po, hopefully ngayon po nakabalik na yung laro ko sa gabay po ng mga seniors namin lalo na po si Ate Kent,” she told One Sports.
“Sobrang masaya po ako na nakikipag-compete po sa kanya kasi grabe naman po yung binibigay niya samin sa team and yung effort po kung paano po talaga i-lead yung team namin,” Sierba added, talking about Pastrana.
Sierba found herself on the court even during the endgame where La Salle made things interesting with makes on the free throw line.
Knowing the trust it took to have a rookie like her on the field, she said that it pushed her to continue working on her adjustments.
“Syempre thank you kay Coach Haydee at sa lahat ng coaches namin na sobrang laki ng tiwala po sakin kahit na marami pa akong kailangan i-adjust as a rookie,” Sierba said.
“Hopefully sana magtuluy-tuloy yung panalo namin,” she added.
But Sierba knows that the wins won’t come easily, especially for her as she continues to learn the ropes in the seniors division.
Her priority in terms of improvement? Discipline and defense.
“Marami pa po akong kailangan i-adjust. Unang-una po yung syempre importante din yung disiplina sa paglalaro and yung depensa po,” she said.
Still, Sierba’s timely recovery is a good sign for the defending champions, who are now 4-1 with two more games remaining in the first round.
With UP and FEU still waiting before the halfway mark of the season, Sierba and the rest of UST are keeping themselves ready for their remaining games.
“Iniisip ko lang na yun nga, pag binigyan po kami ng playing time ni coach, kailangan namin ibigay yung best namin. Kung ano po yung makakaya namin sa team, kung paano kami makaka-execute. Kung ano yung mga tine-training namin.” she said.