Defending champion Adamson University and unbeaten National University Nazareth School (NUNS) rekindle their explosive rivalry in a thrilling collision course for a semifinal seat in the 2025 Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 on Thursday at the La Salle Green Hills Gym.

Expect fireworks when the protagonists of the UAAP Season 87 finals battle in the third knockout game of the four-match schedule in Court 1 starting at 9 a.m.

The Lady Baby Falcons are in for a tough grind facing the Pool D top seed Lady Bullpups, who swept the four-game pool play despite playing back-to-back games in each of the last two elimination-round playdates of the country’s biggest grassroots volleyball league.

But Adamson, which finished second in Pool A, will be extra motivated to eye payback against the same team that knocked the JP Yude-mentor squad off the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) throne in sweeping fashion six months ago.

The Lady Baby Falcons are on a three-game winning run following a shocking upset at the hands of Pool A top seed and undefeated Emilio Aguinaldo College in the opener last week.

NUNS, on the other hand, is looking to stay on the right course in its bid to capture the elusive SGVIL title as an addition to its earlier UAAP and Palarong Pambansa conquests.

Interestingly, the stacked Lady Bullpups will parade reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player Sam Cantada against her former squad, which will rely on UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year Ellaine Gonzalvo, Francheska Adem, Janna Dizon and Kristal Joy Martin to pull off a stunner.

The winner of the NUNS-Adamson pairing will tackle the quarters survivor between the EAC Lady Brigadiers and the King’s Montessori School Lady Vikings in the semifinals.

Opening serve of the EAC-KMS encounter is set at 9 a.m. in Court 2.

Crowd-darling Bacolod Tay Tung is also looking to sustain its winning ways after sweeping Pool B in a must-see battle with Far Eastern University-Diliman while undefeated Pool C top seed Arellano University squares off with De La Salle-Lipa in the other quarters skirmish.

In Division 2 quarters action, La Salle Green Hills takes on St. Paul College-Pasig, Immaculate Conception Academy crosses paths with Miriam College, Domuschola International School duels with De La Salle-Zobel B, while Everest International Academy meets Assumption Antipolo for the right to advance into the Final Four.