University of Santo Tomas (UST) finally ended its long search for a crown.

And the Golden Tigresses achieved it in style via a dominating tournament sweep of the 2026 Shakey’s Collegiate National Invitationals.

UST needed a little wake-up call after yielding the opening frame before unleashing the full might of its firepower to silence Saint Benilde, 22-25, 25-8, 25-12, 25-22, in the winner-take-all championship on Sunday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

A surprising early slip all but momentarily delayed the Golden Tigresses’ march to the throne in a flawless 7-0 record.

Veterans Regina Jurado and Most Valuable Player Angge Poyos showed the way for the España-based squad, which won its breakthrough crown after a third-place finish in the inaugural edition three years ago.

Jurado unloaded 21 points on 18 kills and two aces while Poyos fired 20 points anchored on 16 attacks, two aces and two kill blocks for UST, which tightened its defensive screw at the net to tally 14 kill blocks.

The Tigresses encountered resistance in the fourth set after the Lady Blazers kept it close. An attack error by Rubin cut UST’s advantage to 22-20 before the Tigresses countered with a closing 3-1 barrage to wrap the one-hour, 55-minute encounter.

“I just told the players to forget what happened in the first set. I know my players very well. I know what they are capable of. I just told them to just focus. Work with our adjustments and just follow our system. This is a good start for us,” UST head coach Shaq delos Santos said.

“This is a good sign for us winning this championship. This will inspire us to work harder as we prepare for the UAAP,” he added.

Rookie Kim Rubin added 12 points and Blessing Unekwe flexed her defensive muscle with seven kill blocks to finish with 10 markers for the Tigresses.

UST swept the five-game elimination round, including a four-set victory over the Lady Blazers, before knocking out Letran in the Final Four.

Saint Benilde pounced on the Tigresses’ rusty start to draw first blood but failed to sustain its momentum.

Camila Bartolome had 16 points in a lost cause while Mary Grace Borromeo finished with 12 for the Lady Blazers.

Meanwhile, Letran salvaged a podium finish after beating Australian guest team Southern Storm Melbourne, 25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 25-23, in the battle for third.

Judiel Nitura punched in all of her 19 points on kills and added two digs for the Lady Knights’ second straight third-place finish in the tournament.

Reeza Abayon got 12 points on 11 kills and an ace while Carly Nathalie Tizon scored seven for the Intramuros-based squad, which hammered down 50 attack points.

Setter Hizki Flores tallied 11 excellent sets as Letran walked away with the win despite throwing away 31 points off its errors.

A costly service error by Isabella Smith followed by Cleo Anastasias’ attack miscue sent the Lady Knights to match point, 24-21. Southern Storm won a video challenge on Abayon’s serve that was initially called in before Rebekah Pocock followed it up with a hit.

Nitura took matters into her own hands for the closing hit for Letran’s podium finish.

Anastasias fired 13 points on 10 spikes and three kill blocks while Steph Baker scored 12 of her 13 points on attacks for the Australians, who ended their campaign with four straight losses.

Flores was named Best Setter while other individual winners were Enderun Colleges’ Althea Botor (Best Outside Hitter), Ho Chi Minh City Volleyball Club’s Le Thi Diem Phuong (Best Opposite), CSB’s Fiona Inocentes (Best Middle Blocker) and Southern Storm’s Milla Smith (Best Libero).