Epic performance: UST nips Bacolod Tay Tung, bags SGVIL crown

University of Santo Tomas (UST) delivered a performance for the books after outhustling Bacolod Tay Tung in the winner-take-all final, 16-25, 26-24, 19-25, 28-26, 15-10, to complete a flawless conquest of the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 on Friday at the La Salle Green Hills Gym.

Unsuccessful in their first three participations, the Junior Golden Tigresses put in the work and heart to write history and capture their breakthrough crown with a perfect 7-0 run.

Power-hitting wingers Nicole Pelaez and Most Valuable Player Kim Rubin carried UST through in the nerve-wracking two-hour, 21-minute showdown.

In a battle of nerves in the fifth set, the Thunderbolts blinked first as the focused UST side unleashed a decisive 8-2 run that turned a 5-5 deadlock into a comfortable 13-7 advantage.

Rhose Almedralejo stopped Bacolod Tay Tung’s bleeding but the Junior Tigresses reached match point after the exhausted Ilongga winger sent her serve short, 14-8.

Bacolod Tay Tung saved two match points before Nicole Mendoza shut the door on Jhaennine Mayang for the championship-clinching kill block.

Pelaez fired 24 points on 20 kills and four kill blocks while Rubin scored 22 of her 23 points on kills for UST, which reached the finals for the first time in four years after dethroning National University Nazareth School in a five-set thriller in the Final Four.

“The kids worked hard for this. I told them, especially Rubin and our other seniors, to make history since it’s their last Shakey’s (GVIL). Honestly, we only have nine players in our team but we put in the work and just doubled our effort,” UST coach Rochette Villegas said.

Mendoza and Eliz Menchavez added 10 points each for the Junior Tigresses.

The Thunderbolts ended as runner-up for the third straight time despite the 26-point effort of Almendralejo. Mayang added 17 points while Faith Banguia had 12 in a losing effort.

Almendralejo was named Best Outside Hitter, Jhayna Bulandres of NUNS got the Best Opposite Spiker award while Medoza took the Best Middle Blocker recognition. Bacolod Tay Tung’s Luchi Viviero was Best Libero while UST’s Andreaj Tan Chun Bing bagged Best Setter.

Meanwhile, NUNS-B was crowned Division 2 champion after overcoming a hard-fighting University of Batangas High School, 33-31, 25-17, 25-23, in the one-game final.

Last year’s Division 1 champion NUNS salvaged some measure of pride with a 25-18, 25-21, 25-18, sweep of Far Eastern University-Diliman for a bronze medal finish.

On the other hand, Bacolod Tay Tung-B took bronze in Division 2 after beating Corpus Christi School, 25-15, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20.

St. John’s Institute outlasted Adamson University, 15-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-21, 15-10, for a fifth place finish while King’s Montessori dominated Immaculada Concepcion College, 25-20, 25-7, 25-13, for seventh place in Division 1.

In the Division 2 classification round, St. Jude Parish School defeated University of Santo Tomas-B, 25-15, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, for a fifth place finish while inaugural champion Domuschola International School landed in seventh after topping host La Salle Green Hills, 25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20.