NU-NAZARETH School has won the 2025 Shakey’s Girls' Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) after yet again taking down Bacolod Tay Tung in a riveting 27-25, 16-25, 21-25, 30-28, 15-13 final a week since their Palarong Pambansa gold medal match.
Reigning UAAP girls’ volleyball and now-SGVIL MVP Sam Cantada fronted the Lady Bullpups’ gritty start in an extended opening frame then kept them afloat even as the Thunderbolts struck back in the two succeeding sets.
With Tay Tung already at championship point late in Set 4, NUNS fought tooth-and-nail even if it took five set points for them to force sudden death.
"Normal lang po mapagod. Pagod talaga, as in walang pahinga kasi isang araw lang yung pahinga. Normal lang mapagod, pero sa utak lang kasi yun nagsisimula. Kung ano ang iniisip mo, yun ang igagalaw mo," Cantada said.
Finally, the blue-and-gold was handed the title from 13-all through a costly service error from the tournament's best outside hitter Rhose Almendralejo, who fired an SGVIL finals record of 35 points, before a decisive attack fault by Ana Ysabelle Hermosura.
Third time ultimately proved to be the charm, as the Lady Bullpups seized the elusive SGVIL crown after back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the tournament’s first two editions.
NUNS' golden trail
After sweeping pool play, it took them a two-set romp of then-champion Adamson, a three-set sweep of Emilio Aguinaldo College, and a triumphant encore against the same team it took down in the Palaro secondary girls’ volleyball finals.
Back in Ilocos Norte this time last week, the NUNS-laden National Capital Region foiled Tay Tung-powered Western Visayas’ three-peat bid with a commanding 25-12, 25-14, 25-8 sweep.
As such, the Thunderbolts’ three-for-three SGVIL podium streak still won’t have a gold medal to top it all off after settling for bronze in 2023 and falling short to the Lady Baby Falcons in last year’s final.
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