IT didn’t take long for National University-Nazareth School (NUNS) to regain its championship form as the Lady Bullpups started their 2026 volleyball calendar on a high note by winning the 2025 Rebisco Volleyball League (RVL) National and Invitational Finals recently.
Coming off their UAAP Season 88 girls championship conquest over Far Eastern University-Diliman (FEU-D) last Dec. 14, 2025, the Lady Bullpups came back with renewed focus as they saw action in the RVL regional finals for National Capital Region on Jan. 9.
A day later, NUNS repeated over the same FEU-D team in the regional title game to earn the right to represent Metro Manila in the 12-team National Finals that began a week later on Jan. 17.
The Lady Bullpups’ road to the National and Invitational Finals had the makings of another championship.
NUNS star outside spiker Diza Berayo gave everyone a glimpse behind the scenes during Lady Bullpups practices in her vlog as one of the RVL Student Storytellers, tasked to document their team’s RVL journey on and off the court.
RVL Student Storytellers’ vlogs are shared by the Rebisco Volleyball and RVL Facebook pages.
In Berayo’s vlog, she chatted with graduating teammates captain and setter Rihanna Navarro, libero Atasha Doroja and outside hitter Akeyla Bartolabac, who all expressed their excitement over their last opportunity to play for the team in the RVL National Finals.
Berayo also asked coach Ray Karl Dimaculangan about his goals for the team as they headed into the RVL National Finals with just four days of training.
“Una, Rebisco Nationals, manalo, and then... maka-gain ng momentum sa mga future tournaments, and matuto ‘yung mga players,” Dimaculangan said.
The Lady Bullpups checked all those boxes as they reclaimed the RVL throne after winning their first in the 2022 edition of the country’s biggest 18-and-under girls’ volleyball tournament, now backed by top insurance provider Allianz.
In the National Finals championship game, NUNS dethroned Bacolod Tay Tung, 25-15, 29-27, 25-20, last Jan. 22 to put an end to Bacolod’s two-year reign in the tournament.
The champion team won the P100,000 prize while the losing finalist pocketed P50,000.
Facing off again in the Invitational finals two days later, NUNS made sure its conquest of the Western Visayas champ was no fluke as the Lady Bullpups posted another straight sets win, 25-23, 26-24, 25-15, to complete a nine-game sweep of both RVL tournaments this season.
Malaysia’s Sarawak Volleyball Association bagged the bronze medal in the four-team invitational tournament after a 25-20, 25-22, 25-12 victory over Perfect Set, a fellow guest team made up of promising Filipino American spikers in the United States.
De la Salle Lipa, on the other hand, shrugged off a slow start to survive University of San Jose-Recoletos, 21-5, 25-22, 25-11, 25-21, in the National Finals battle for third place to claim the P25,000 prize.
Davao City National High School, the only team to win a set against NUNS in the National Finals, placed 5th.
Iligan City National High School, California Academy, Holy Trinity College, Linao National High School and Immaculate Conception Academy finished 6th to 10th, respectively.
Bacolod City may have lost its claim to the championship, but the Western Visayas team still paraded some of the best individual players as Rhose Viane Almendralejo was crowned Most Valuable Player in the National Finals.
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter also bannered the 2025 RVL Select 21, a compilation of the tournament’s best players in each position who will have a chance to join a specialized training camp and practice with Rebisco flagship professional clubs the Creamline Cool Smashers and the Choco Mucho Flying Titans.