Foreign teams spice up shakey’s collegiate wars

Four of the country’s best local squads brace for a much tougher competition as teams from Vietnam and Australia spice up the 2026 Shakey’s Collegiate National Invitationals unveiling on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion Letran College, College of Saint Benilde, University of Santo Tomas (UST), and Enderun Colleges test their mettle against guest teams Ho Chi Minh City Volleyball Club and Southern Storm Melbourne.

Opening day playdate pits the Lady Knights against the Australians at 1 p.m. followed by the 3 p.m. battle between the Tigresses and the Lady Titans.

The Lady Blazers get a shot at the Vietnamese squad in the 5 p.m. nightcap of the weeklong competition backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, and R and B Milk Tea.

Fresh off a successful title conquest in the NCAA Season 101, Letran is bringing in its champion core led by Judiel Nitura, Verenicce Colendra and Joralyn Panangin.

The Lady Knights, unfortunately, will miss the services of veterans Gia Maquillang and Vanessa Sarie due to knee and right shoulder injuries, respectively.

“Our biggest goal is to become a better team every game. We want to maximize this opportunity against strong local and international teams, especially since we’ll be facing squads from Australia and Vietnam,” Lady Knights assistant coach Mayeth Carolino said.

“The local teams are also formidable with Benilde, UST and Enderun in the mix, so we really need to push ourselves here in the National Invitationals. Being able to compete here is a massive opportunity.”

Saint Benilde mentor Jerry Yee, on the other hand, will be parading new faces in the Lady Blazers’ title campaign in the tournament.

“We lost a lot of players from last year, so we will be trying out many new things and exploring our options now. Hopefully, we can remain competitive and put up a strong performance,” said Yee, who will rely on Kai Lleses and NCAA 101 Rookie of the Year Cam Bartolome.

After leading UST High School to a breakthrough championship in the 2026 Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League Rising Stars Cup Division 1 and winning Most Valuable Player two months ago, Kim Rubin will try to bring the same impact this time with the Tigresses.

Also seeing action for UST are seasoned stars Angge Poyos, Regina Jurado, Avril Bron and Marga Altea.

Enderun Colleges, on the other hand, has expressed gratitude for the opportunity to compete in the tournament.

“It is a huge honor to be part of this tournament. This is a massive help for us to gain exposure against UAAP and NCAA powerhouses, plus it has that international flavor. And of course, we want to prove that Enderun has a legitimate volleyball program,” Lady Titans coach Dong dela Cruz said.

Both visiting teams vowed to give the local squads a run for their money.

“Our team will try our best and see how far we’ll be able to go in the tournament. We just want to demonstrate our best,” Ho Chi Minh Volleyball Club coach Huinn Do Hong Loan said.

Southern Storm Melbourne head coach Carlo Pacioni added that his team looks forward to the challenge of playing against the style of Philippine volleyball.

“We want to experience a different flavor of volleyball here in the Philippines. We expect the style to be different in what we play and I think we are very eager for the challenge to keep up with it,” he said.

The six teams play a single-round elimination with the top four advancing to the knockout semifinal. Eliminated teams in the elims will square off in the classification round.

The championship and battle for bronze are also winner-take-all affairs.