MANILA, Philippines — Fancied University of Santo Tomas tests its mettle against Arellano University High School in the opening salvo of the internationally flavored 2026 Shakey’s Juniors National Invitationals hostilities erupting Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Game time is set at 1 p.m., followed by three more pairings in the seven-team competition backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, and R and B Milk Tea.
The Junior Golden Tigresses parade a younger core but remain formidable with experienced holdovers, who helped the team complete a breakthrough Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (SGVIL) Rising Stars Cup Division 1 conquest three months ago.
Despite the departure of most of its veterans, including SGVIL Most Valuable Player Kim Rubin, to the seniors' ranks, the Kungfu Reyes-mentored squad will still have a solid crew led by top setter Andreaj Tan Chun Bing, Nicole Pelaez, Eliz Menchavez and libero Chas Pepito.
“Our lineup right now is different from that of the SGVIL. Almost ¾ of our team in this Invitational are new players. Most are just incoming Grade 11,” UST assistant coach Yani Fernandez said during the tournament’s press conference on Friday at Shakey’s Hemady in Quezon City.
“Here in the Invitationals we want to see how our new players will react to competition and how they adapt to our system.” In other matches, Pusong Azul battles Guam-based Pacific Volleyball Academy while St. John’s Institute tackles One La Salle, which is composed of varsity players from De La Salle Zobel, Green Hills and Dasmarinas.
Arellano University and Pacific Volleyball Academy return to action in the nightcap of the competition supported by Jetour, Baic, Eurotel, Victory Liner Rent & Go, F2 Logistics, Summit Natural Drinking Water, PusoP.com and Smart Sports.
The California-based Perfect Set Dream Makers debut on Monday with back-to-back games against One La Salle and UST, respectively.
“Our goal here is really to see how our (local) teams compete with international teams and for those international teams to see how we organize tournaments like these,” said Dr. Ian Laurel, president of organizing Athletic Events and Sports Management, Inc. (ACES). “We want a long-term goal of sharing the same vision with other countries and strengthening the local volleyball program at this level,” Laurel added.
Laurel was joined in the presser by Shakey's Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI) marketing manager Regina Asa, 12 Beyond Media CEO Patricia Hizon and tournament officials headed by competition director Ginio Panganiban.
Teams play a single round-robin elimination round, with the top four advancing to the knockout semifinals. Both the final and the battle for bronze are also one-game showdowns.
Preliminary round matches of the tournament, which has the Philippine Sports Commission, Commission on Higher Education, Mikasa, Asics, Rigour Technology, Team Rebel Sports as technical partners, are best-of-three sets while the semis and final matches are best-of-five sets.
Meanwhile, six teams will compete in the Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals slated to begin on July 19. Foreign teams Ho Chi Minh Volleyball Club of Vietnam and Australian squad Southern Storm Melbourne will take on local squads led by Enderun Colleges, UST, Letran College, and College of Saint Benilde in a short but exciting tournament.
Games in both divisions are available live and on-demand via PusoP.com livestream and Solar Sports. TMT