VETERAN Royse Tubino rose to the occasion in a rare opportunity to suit up for the Army-Black Mamba on Thursday night, after being ruled out of the 2022 PVL Invitational Conference due to schooling.
Royse Tubino makes surprise PVL appearance
And in a surprise appearance, Tubino knew she had to give it her all.
"Basta for the team, gagawin ko lahat," she said.
"Bumalik ako dito para sa team talaga. Ginawa ko yung best ko para tumulong kay ate Jov."
Tubino came off the bench for the Lady Troopers where she tallied nine points en route to Army's upset victory over runner-up Petro Gazz, 25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23.
It was actually her second game of the season, briefly seeing action in sets one and five of Army-Black Mamba's game against Cignal.
Player of the game Jovelyn Gonzaga, who delivered on both ends with 23 points of 22 attacks and 23 receptions, credited the team's stunning triumph to the 29-year-old spiker.
"Thankful din kay Royse. Nagsacrifice yan si Royse from schooling," she said.
"So babalik na yan pero at least nabigyan niya kami ng isang panalo."
With the win, the Lady Troopers land in the middle of the standings with a 1-1 record, a much better start than the previous Open Conference where they ended the group eliminations with zero wins before sweeping BaliPure in the classification for a seventh-place finish.
"Galing kami sa talo sa Cignal, pero ito yung step na kaya kami nanalo ngayon para ma-boost yung morale namin talaga. Step by step hanggang makuha namin yung Final Four," Tubino said.
Asked if the veteran would suit up for the Army in the following games, Tubino declined to answer as her playing time would be decided by the management.
But for her, one thing remained clear.
"Basta ako, 'pag pinayagan ako maglaro, maglalaro ako para sa Army," she vowed.
The Lady Troopers are set to face fellow 1-1 team Choco Mucho on Tuesday, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
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