University of Santo Tomas’ breakthrough championship in the 2026 Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 is a story of resilience, hard work and unquestionable heart.      

Despite fielding a lean roster, the Junior Golden Tigresses rose through adversities for a fairytale ending in the competition backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, and R and B Milk Tea.     

Led by Most Valuable Player Kim Rubin, UST came back from a 1-2 match deficit to upset title favorite Bacolod Tay Tung in the winner-take-all final, 16-25, 26-24, 19-25, 28-26, 15-10, Friday night, May 2, at the La Salle Green Hills Gym.

The Junior Tigresses completed a seven-game sweep in an amazing run, which included a semifinal shocker over last year’s champion and reigning UAAP Season 88 winner National University Nazareth School in five sets last Thursday.       

“It’s not luck, we are very blessed, Ginawa lang namin ang dapat naming gawin,” said the graduating Rubin.

UST swept the pool stage for its return to the quarterfinal after missing the playoffs in the past editions since finishing sixth in the inaugural contest.

The Junior Tigresses would then eliminate King’s Montessori in straight sets in the Last 8 of the tournament backed by Smart Sports, PusoP.com, Solar Sports Free TV, Mikasa, Asics, Eurotel, Team Rebel Sports, and Rigour Technology as technical partners.   

UST had to rally from a 1-2 match hole to drag the Lady Bullpups off the throne and set up a final showdown against perennial contender Bacolod Tay Tung, which has been in the championship round in the previous two editions.

Displaying nerves of steel and unshakable trust to their system and each other, the Junior Tigresses fought tooth and nail to bring down the Thunderbolts in a thrilling finish.

“Talagang tyinaga lang namin. Araw-araw yung laro. Nakikita nyo naman yung mga bata walang recovery. Sabi nga nila, ‘Coach ilalaban lang namin.’ Sabi ko nga subukan lang natin nasa finals na tayo buo man ang kabila at siyam lang tayo eh i-try lang natin. ‘Yun nga nakasungkit kami kahit papaano,” UST coach Rochette Villegas said. 

“Ang programa nandyan lang pero i-acknowledge ko ang desisyon ng mga players na gusto nilang manalo. Kulang kami, hirap kami sa palitan ng tao. So tyinaga lang nami kung ano ang meron kami. Sabi ko nga sa kanila na huwag na kayonng maghanap ng sinong wala. Kung sino ang nandyan tyagain natin,” he added.

The championship served as a perfect sendoff for the Junior Tigresses seniors as well as inspiration for the holdovers and incoming UST players.        

“Very grateful kasi lahat ng pinag-ensayuhan nmain the past few days nailabas namin sa game. Very thankful sa coaches kasi di nila kami binitawan and di namin binitawan ang laro. Very great experience pa rin po sa amin. Hopefully, madala po ng next batch na maging competitive sa future,” said Rubin, who will move up to the school’s seniors team.

Meanwhile, organizers of the SGVIL are looking at a bigger tournament next season after a record 44 teams of 20 squads in Division 1 and 24 in Division 2.

“it’s just very heartwarming that as early as now, may mga schools nang nag-signify of their intentions to join next year. Which means it’s gonna be more than 44 next year,” Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. (ACES) president Dr. Ian Laurel said.

“This year was really the biggest with 44 teams and the two divisions proved that the level of play’s getting higher and higher. As you can see in the four editions no team has won back-to-back championships which means it’s really tough to predict which team’s gonna come up with a strong lineup. But looking at the talents in the field, it’s overflowing,” he added.       

As an added treat, teams from United States, Guam, Japan, China and Australia are coming over to play in the first-ever staging of the SGVIL Invitationals slated July 11 to 18.

“It’s still going to be by invitation pero di pa namin alam kung sino ang mga available teams by July. But definitely we would like to invite the top-tiered teams, like UST, Bacolod Tay Tung, even the other teams in Division 1. We’ll invite them and find out if their schedule would permit it,” Laurel said.