MANILA, Philippines — A record 44-teams will see action at the 2026 Shakey's Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup which begins on April 20 at the La Salle Green Hills gym.
The tournament officially launched in a press conference at Shakey's Paseo de Magallanes on Wednesday.
Fourteen (14) new teams including guest team Diverse Auckland Cubs of New Zealand will compete in the biggest high school girls volleyball tournament in terms of participating teams.
The 44 teams are divided into two divisions, with 20 schools participating in the Division 1 and the other 24 in Division 2 where the Auckland Cubs belong.
“We’re continuing with having two divisions in the SGVIL. Since the establishment of the second division last year, more schools have approached us and expressed interest in joining the league," said Dr. Ian Laurel, president of the league organizer Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. (ACES).
"In fact, the teams have grown in number, record numbers. There are now 20 in Division 1 and 24 in Division 2, with a team from New Zealand joining as well.
“So, the interest at the high school level in joining the Shakey's GVIL has exponentially grown, and it is an honor for us, a pleasure for us to be able to host them again this year."
Trying to add more competitiveness in the league, the top two teams in Division 2 sill be promoted to Division 1 while the last two teams in Division 1 will be demoted to Division 2.
The champions and runners-up from both divisions will be invited to join the SGVIL Invitationals alongside a couple of US high school teams and a Japanese squad in July.
Teams in Division 1 are divided into four pools with five squads each while in Division 2, six squads are bunched in four pools.
The defending champs NU Nazareth School Lady Bullpups, who beat Bacolod Tay Tung in a cardiac five-set finale last year, lead Pool A alongside King’s Montessori, inaugural champion California Academy, Lyceum of the Philippines Academy and Bethel Academy.
Three-time runner-up Bacolod Tay Tung is in Pool B with Canossa Academy, Holy Rosary College, University of Perpetual Help System-Dalta and Immaculate Conception College.
De La Salle-Lipa, Far Eastern University-Diliman, University of the Philippines Integrated School, San Felipe Neri Catholic School and St. John’s Institute composed Pool C while in Pool D are 2024 champion Adamson University, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Chiang Kai Shek College, University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle Santiago-Zobel.
Domuschola International School, which overpowered Everest International Academy in straight sets in the finals last year, opted to stay in Division 2 for a back-to-back bid in the grassroots volleyball league backed by Smart Sports, PusoP.com, Solar Sports Free TV, Mikasa, Asics, Team Rebel Sports and Rigour Technology as technical partners.
Joining the Pasig-based squad in Pool E are Miriam College, Corpus Christi School, The Beacon Academy, MGC-New Life Christian Academy and San Beda University.
The Pool F teams are Everest International Academy, La Salle Green Hills, Diverse Auckland Cubs, Saint Pedro Poveda College, St. Theresa’s College-Quezon City, UST-B; together in Pool G are Immaculate Conception Academy-Greenhills, Assumption-Antipolo, NU-Nazareth School Team B, St. Jude Parish School, CCF-The Life Academy and PACE Academy while Pool H is composed of St. Paul College-Pasig, La Salle Zobel-B, St. John Institute Team B, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo De Cebu, Bacolod Tay Tung Team B and University of Batangas High School.
Preliminary round matches in both divisions will be played in best-of-three sets. All frames, including the deciding set, will be played up to 25 points.
The top two teams in each pool will advance to the knockout quarterfinal. Both semifinal and final matches are one-game affairs and will be played in best-of-five sets.