UST at the 2026 Shakey’s Juniors National Invitationals. Handout photo
MANILA — University of Santo Tomas (UST) completed an elimination round sweep and locked the No. 1 seed in the semifinals after defeating erstwhile unbeaten St. John’s Institute (SJI)-Bacolod, 25-17, 25-23, in the 2026 Shakey’s Juniors National Invitationals on Thursday at the Playtime FilOil Arena in San Juan.
Anelli Manzanillo played clutch in the closing stretch of the second set, scoring four of her team’s 5-2 finishing blow as the Junior Tigresses emerged unscathed after six starts in the elims.
UST, which ruled the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 a couple of months ago, will take on the fourth-seeded squad in the knockout Final Four on Friday at the same venue starting at 4 p.m.
READ: UST sweeps One La Salle, through to semis of Shakey's tilt
Nicole Pelaez scored all her 10 points on attacks while Manzanillo finished with eight markers on four kills and four kill blocks to lead the Junior Tigresses, who have yet to drop a set.
“Natutunan po namin sa preliminaries na ito kung paano po talaga ibigay 'yung best effort namin para makuha 'yung isang puntos,” Manzanillo said.
“Alam namin nag-training din 'yung ibang team so dapat maibigay din namin 'yung tamang galaw and best talaga na maibibigay namin na laro,” she added.
UST encountered tough opposition from the Falcons in the second set and trailed SJI-Bacolod, 20-21, after a Kristel Mirasol hit.
READ: SJI-Bacolod retains perfect record, One La Salle wins three in a row in Shakey's tilt
Manzanillo took matters into her own hands and scored back-to-back kills before Pelaez smashed an attack for a 23-21 UST advantage.
Eliz Menchavez committed an attack error that gave the Falcons a breather but Manzanillo answered with a kill block to put UST at match point, 24-22.
SJI-Bacolod saved a match point on an error by the Junior Tigresses before Manzanillo capped the one-hour, five-minute victory with a kill block against Caera Celis.
The semis-bound Falcons saw their four-game winning streak snapped heading into their final elims match against Guam-based guest team Pacific Volleyball Academy, Inc. later in the day.
READ: Shakey’s Juniors Nat’l Invitationals action gets underway
Celis was limited to just seven points while Edz Escultura and Eileen Yanson logged in five markers each for SJI-Bacolod, which shot itself in the foot with 18 errors.
Meanwhile, the California-based Perfect Set Dream Makers outlasted Pusong Azul, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12, to end their campaign on a winning note.
The Dream Makers halted a five-game slide while handing Pusong Azul its sixth defeat in as many games in the inaugural staging of the tournament.
Nizmund Manalad led Perfect Set with 11 points while Naomi Barbosa added seven. Victoria Anderson scored five of her seven markers in the third set for the Dream Makers, including back-to-back hits to close the one-hour, 20-minute clash.
Briana Mendoza and Juliana Peregrino fired 11 points each in a losing effort for Pusong Azul, which committed an atrocious 29 errors.