Defending champion National University Nazareth School (NUNS) survived a serious scare from feisty St. John’s Institute, 20-25, 32-30, 15-12, to book a Final Four ticket in the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 on Wednesday at the La Salle Green Hills Gym.

Xyz Rayco’s clutch plays rescued the Lady Bullpups in the tightly contested second set before NUNS banked on a decisive run in the third frame to complete a thrilling escape and remain on the hunt for a repeat crown.

The reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champion unleashed six straight points to build a 9-5 lead in the third set after trailing by two points. Caera Celis willed SJI back and closed the gap, 13-11, before Raine Alonzo put NUNS at match point.

Celis saved a point for SJI but Jhaynna Bulandres sealed the one-hour, 31-minute win for the Lady Bullpups with a booming kill.

“It was really hard to beat them because they are also good. But we stayed focused and employed our teamwork,” said Rayco, who had 12 points on 11 kills and an ace.

Bulandres had 12 points while Alonzo added nine markers for NUNS, which will battle University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Thursday in the knockout semifinal of the country’s biggest grassroots volleyball league backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner and R and B Milk Tea.

Rayco accounted for three of the Lady Bullpups five match points saved in the extended second set. NUNS got its second set point advantage, 30-29, before Kristel Mirasol knotted the game at 30 on a kill. Alonzo scored off an attack and SJI surrendered the frame with a net fault infraction, sending the match into a decider.

Celis had 19 points on 16 kills, two kill blocks and an ace to pace SJI.

On the other hand, the Junior Golden Tigresses swept King’s Montessori School, 25-19, 25-21, to enter the semis.

Last year’s runner-up Bacolod Tay Tung advanced to the Final Four at the expense of 2024 champion Adamson University, 25-21, 25-21.

Rhose Almendralejo led the Thunderbolts’ charge with 16 points on 11 kills and five aces.

Bacolod Tay Tung will square off with Far Eastern University-Diliman, which eliminated Immaculada Conception College, 25-11, 25-17, in the next round.

Meanwhile, a new Division 2 champion will be crowned after undefeated University of Batangas dethroned Domuschola International School, 25-19, 25-16, to book a spot in the semifinal

The Junior Lady Brahmans will take on unbeaten Corpus Christi School, which defeated St. Jude Parish School, 25-19, 25-16, in the Final Four.

Also unscathed in six starts, NUNS-B swept host La Salle Green Hills, 25-19, 25-17, to set up a semis collision course against an inspired Bacolod Tay Tung-B side.

The Thunderbolts scored a huge upset over the erstwhile perfect UST-B in a hard-earned 25-16, 28-26, decision.