National University battled past Ateneo de Manila University in a tough match, securing a 23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 29-27 win to stay undefeated in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday, February 19, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.The Bulldogs overcame a four-point deficit in the third set, gaining control and carrying that momentum into the fourth to eventually defeat the determined Blue Eagles.With the win, NU improved to 2-0 this season, while Ateneo, under new head coach Vince Mangulabnan, fell to a 1-1 record.Leo Ordiales led the Bulldogs with 14 points, including 13 attacks, while Peng Taguibolos had a standout performance with 13 markers, featuring seven attacks and a game-high six blocks.Congolese middle blocker Obed Mukaba contributed 10 points, with four blocks, four aces, and two attacks, and last season’s Rookie of the Year Jade Disquitado added seven points in his Season 87 debut.Greg Ancheta facilitated NU’s offense with 18 excellent sets, while Jimwell Gapultos protected the floor with 18 excellent receptions and four digs.The five-peat seeking Bulldogs will next face Far Eastern University on Sunday, February 23, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. 

Far Eastern University (FEU) continued its impressive UAAP Season 87 volleyball campaign, securing victories in both the men’s and women’s tournaments against the University of the East (UE) on Wednesday, March 26, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Gilas Pilipinas put up a valiant fight but ultimately fell to New Zealand, 94-86, early Friday morning (Manila time) at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Justin Brownlee led the charge with 37 points, but a missed free throw in the final minute and a late-game surge by the Tall Blacks dashed the Nationals’ hopes of a comeback. Gilas erased an 18-point deficit and closed the gap to three, 85-82, with under four minutes remaining, but crucial turnovers and clutch plays by Taylor Britt sealed the win for New Zealand.Dwight Ramos contributed 19 points, while June Mar Fajardo chipped in 11 points and four rebounds. Jordan Ngatai paced New Zealand with 22 points—19 coming in a hot-shooting first half.Despite back-to-back losses, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone remains optimistic as the team faces a do-or-die game in the 31st FIBA Asia Cup.After suffering their second straight defeat—this time to New Zealand—Cone acknowledged the tough situation the team is in, one few could have predicted. Gilas must now win against Iraq on Saturday to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive, as both teams are winless so far. Iraq also dropped their second game to Chinese Taipei, 87-60.“We’re disappointed, but the tournament is not over for us. We have a big game against Iraq coming up and we’ll see if we can get into the next round,” Cone said. A loss to Iraq would mean an early exit for world No. 34 Gilas Pilipinas, but Cone remains confident. “We just need to keep battling, keep our heads up, and move forward. We can’t dwell on these last two losses—there’s still more to do, and we’ll be ready for our next game,” he stressed.Gilas drops to 0-2 in group play but still has a chance to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive with a must-win game against Iraq on Saturday at 4 p.m. (Manila time).

Rookie wing spiker Alleiah Malaluan wasted no time making her presence felt in her Premier Volleyball League (PVL) debut, powering PLDT to a commanding 25-16, 25-14, 25-20 over Chery Tiggo in the 2025 PVL Invitational on Thursday, August 21, at the Philsports Arena.The De La Salle University standout fired 11 points built on 10 attacks and one ace, while also anchoring PLDT’s defense with 13 excellent digs and nine excellent receptions.Fresh from her stint with Alas Pilipinas, Malaluan expressed her gratitude for finally joining her mother club.“I’m really grateful for this opportunity because I’ve been with the team for a few months already, and this experience has been a stepping stone for me to build a connection with them. Of course, I need to develop that chemistry with everyone,” Malaluan said after the match.

Olympic basketball in the 2024 Paris Games has been off to a hot start, with ball clubs from different nations slugging it out for a chance to qualify for the medal rounds and call themselves the world’s best.Australia and Spain will open the men’s tournament in the Group Phase A while Group Phase B will begin with the battle between Japan and Germany to be followed by Brazil meeting the host team France in the main game.  Australia opened the Men’s Basketball tournament with a bang by defeating world’s No. 2 Spain 92-80 in the Group A phase.NBA veteran Patty Mills opened the scoring for the No. 5 ranked Aussie team by converting three free throws followed by Jock Landale three pointer to have a 6-0 lead early in the opening frame.The Boomers erected a double-digit lead in the 1st half of play but Spain refused to give up and even took the lead for a while before the Aussies put the game away during the final frame.Josh Giddey, Jock Landale and Patty Mills combine for 56 of Australia's 92 points in their Group A win.The debuting Giddey wrote himself into the record books by becoming the first player to combine 15+ points, 7+ rebounds and 7+ assist in his first game at the Olympics, putting his name alongside the legendary Drazen Petrovic who made the same feat in 1984 against Italy.

In what appeared to be a continuation of a sad story overall for the Filipino judoka, Kiyomi Watanabe’s Olympic dream ended early as she fell quickly out of medal contention in the 2024 Paris Games.She ended her Olympics bid in a 51-second Ippon loss against China’s Jing Tang in the women’s judo -63kg Round of 32 at the Champ-de-Mar Arena in Paris, France Tuesday afternoon (Manila time).This is the second straight early exit for Watanabe, following a similar ippon loss against Spanish judoka Cristina Cabana Perez in just 38 seconds at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.Watanabe is the third Filipino and first woman judo athlete to compete in multiple Summer Olympic Games, the last being John Baylon and Jerry Dino in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.Watanabe is a regional champion, having won in the Southeast Asian Games in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Alas Pilipinas captured a bronze medal finish after a strong showing against Indonesia to cap off the first leg Southeast Asian (SEA) V.League on Sunday, August 4, at the Vinh Phuc Hall in Vietnam.Alas won 25-23, 15-25, 25-23, 25-21, in 4 sets.The win prompted the Filipinas to their first tournament podium finish since back-to-back bronze finishes in its inaugural legs of the four-team meet in 2019, when it was still called the ASEAN Grand Prix. They also had endured winless campaigns in 2022 and 2023.National University standout Alyssa Solomon capped her national team comeback with a team-best 16 points on 14 kills, an attack, and an ace. Eya Laure and Sisi Rondina provided stability, contributing 13 markers apiece while Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) top pick Thea Gagate chipped in 10 to aid the team. On the other hand, Arsela Nuari Purnama paced the Indonesian team, churning out 22 points from 19 attacks, two aces, and block, while Megawati Petiwi backed her up with 18 in the losing effort.Powerhouse Thailand and host Vietnam will dispute the gold medal, while Alas Pilipinas eyes another podium finish in the second leg of the tournament in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from August 9 to 11. 

In a battle of two teams with contrasting playstyles, TNT Tropang Giga prevailed against Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, 88-82 on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.TNT emerged victorious behind the near triple-double performance of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who contributed 32 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists.Hollis-Jefferson's performance was highlighted by his three-pointer and a breakaway dunk from a steal in the homestretch of the game to help TNT bounce back from their sorry loss from their last game against Converge and regained the lead in Group A with a 3-1 record.Jayson Castro and Poy Erram joined RHJ in a 10-0 run that pushed the Tropang Giga to an 88-80 lead, after finding themselves trailing by two points going to the final four minutes of play.Using TNT’s signature threes to its advantage, Rondae knocked down one from beyond the arc to recapture the lead, 81-80, then stole Magnolia’s defensive identity when he closed the game with a winning fast break slam after deflecting the pass of Glenn Robinson III with 31.4 seconds remaining.

San Miguel took Game 1 of their best-of-five quarter finals series against Converge FiberXers, 102-95 on Thursday night, September 26, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Beermen new import EJ Asonike, in lieu of the injured Jordan Adams, showed a decent debut performance by producing 28 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

Sixteen young Filipino jiu-jitsu fighters bag gold medals in the recent Sports Jiu-jitsu International Federation World Championship in Nagoya, Japan.Brielle Bartolome, playing as a kindergarten featherweight in the no-gi category, won both in the gi and no gi divisions. Bartolome overcame Peng Nian of China via armbar to win the gold in the first round. She also outpointed Nishimoto Wakana of Japan to win the kindergarten gi rooster-weight division gold medal.Aside from Bartolome, Marcus Dela Cruz under light featherweight in the no-gi category, submitted all his opponents en route to the gold. He defeated China's Ma Haisen in the final round.Another young Filipina fighter who is Youth gi featherweight champion Cesca Lepiten also submitted all her opponents to capture the gold, acquiring her last two including the final against Kimura Alana Liu via armbar in the second round.Pre-teen no-gi middleweight Thiago Bartolome also submitted his way to the championship after forcing Laptev Maksim to tap out after an Americana hold.Also going home as champions are the following: Claudia Lepiten in the toddler GI light featherweights, Tessa Joson in the junior teen featherweights, Ali Joson in the kindergarten GI rooster weights, Tomas Joson in the youth rooster weights, Ethan Ramos in the pre-teen lightweights, and Uno Ordona in the pre-teen medium heavyweights.Universal Reality Combat Championship founder and president Alvin Aguilar said that he was very happy on behalf of the Philippine Junior Grappling Team, composed of different DEFTAC chapters because they saw everyone how hard they work and how good they really are in the competition. According to Aguilar, the champions are also members of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines-RP Junior Grappling Team.“I am very happy that our Philippine Junior Grappling Team, composed of different DEFTAC chapters, are showing everyone how hard they work and how good they really are,” Aguilar said.

The PLDT High Speed ​​Hitters finally grabbed their second straight win against the Galeries Tower Highrisers, 27-25, 25-22, 25-23, in the 2024-25 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference held on Tuesday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.PLDT defeated the Galeries in three straight sets where the Filipino-Canadian spiker Savi Davison led the game and exploded 28 points, five of which she fired in the High Speed Hitters’ 10-2 finishing kick in the third set to snatch the victory, followed by former De La Salle Lady Spiker Erika Santos with 14 points.During her first game a week ago, she finished with a team-high 19 points, along with nine excellent receptions in PLDT’s four-set win over Nxled.“I think in my second game, I was a little bit more comfortable with how I moved around. I felt that I almost regained the trust of my teammates after coming back after missing the last conference. That felt really good, and I just feel better all around. I’m kind of just getting back to the groove of things. I honestly had no idea that I had that many points, but I’m just glad how it all transpired,” said Davison in an interview.

Filipino tanker Phillip Adrian Sahagun bagged the first overall gold medal at the 2024 Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines – East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Friendship Games on Monday, December 2, at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.The 21-year-old Sahagun breezed past his rivals and won by a hair as he clocked in 2 minutes and 13.52 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer in Indonesia’s Hidayatullah Aril who registered 2:13.83 in the boys’ 200-meter individual medley (IM).Rodolfo Apilado III, another Philippine swimmer, finished with 2:20.82 to capture the bronze medal, completing the podium of the first event of the entire tournament."I didn't expect to win, because two weeks ago I just got back from the UAAP and I didn't have [enough] time to prepare for this because I also want to be able to rest. I had no training for one week at all," said the third-year BS Entrepreneurship student of De La Salle University."But my mindset is swim for the Philippines," he added. "During the last lap, I felt a little pain in my body but I saw my opponent chasing so I pushed.  I was there at first so I said I will not give up the gold."

Nesthy Petecio, a two-time Olympic medallist, received a promotion from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) after winning a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.The Filipina pugilist was promoted from Petty Officer Second Class (PO2) to the next higher rank of Petty Officer First Class (PO1).PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil L Gavan conducted the ceremony at the National Headquarters, Port Area, Manila, on Monday, December 2.

The San Miguel Beermen climbed-up from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 107-104, on Tuesday, December 3, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.Marcio Lassiter rifled his 15th point in the game when he was found by Juami Tiongson in the open corner after a solid pick given by import Quincy Miller to give San Miguel a 105-104 lead.Phoenix then still had a chance to get a knack at the basket with 2.3 seconds remaining but they threw the ball away forcing them to foul Beermen's Simon Enciso who sank both of his free throws.Fuel Masters import Donovan Smith still had a chance to force the game to overtime when he made an attempt at the backcourt with 0.7 left in the game but his shot only hit the board.

The Rice Vanguards seem very determined to bring back the championship in Nueva Ecija after failing to do so in the past two seasons.In their latest move, NERV signed the Marcelino twins who incidentally were part of the Zamboanga Master Sardines that they beat in the 2022 MBPL finals.On their Facebook page, the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards welcomed former MVP Jaycee Marcelino and his twin brother, Jayvee, to their turf.The team expects the relentless twins to bring their explosiveness, dynamics, and domination to Nueva Ecija.

Troy Rosario made no mistake in choosing Barangay Ginebra to be his second home. For him, the fulfillment of his childhood dream came into being. His first game with the Gin Kings last Wednesday night was the culmination of his ambition in the league ever since he was a child. “Finally, it's been a childhood dream nga eh to wear that jersey. Talagang masarap sa pakiramdam. Pagdating ko pa lang dito sa venue, talagang ‘yun ‘yung tinignan ko eh, kung nasaan ‘yung jersey ko. Finally, masusuot ka na rin,” said Rosario.Rosario played his first game in a Ginebra uniform against the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup action last night, which they won, 109-100.The 6-foot-7 big man started and played 30 minutes. He contributed with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists on 4-of-11 shooting.Rosario also admitted that the Gin Kings was the last team that spoke to him through the intercession of Scottie Thompson, his former teammate way back then in the PBA D-League.

Barangay Ginebra gave a wonderful Christmas gift to their die-hard fans by defeating the Magnolia Hotshots, 95-92, in their Christmas Manila Clasico duel on Wednesday night, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.Magnolia seemed inspired to win their first back-to-back victories in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup as they erected a 55-41 halftime lead and even established a game-high 22-point lead in the third period.But the Gin Kings displayed their never-say-die attitude to put the game in a cliffhanger showdown.

Filipino-American standouts Brooke Van Sickle, MJ Phillips, and Tia Andaya are gearing up for their potential national team debut in the upcoming VTV Cup in Vietnam.This year marks the third consecutive appearance of a Philippine team in the VTV Cup.Alas Women head coach Jorge Souza de Brito expressed that the trio were not able to suit up for the AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup due to pending eligibility requirements under the Philippine Federation.Fortunately, their documentation is reportedly nearing its completion.De Brito also confirmed last week that Van Sickle had already joined the national team’s training alongside Phillips, Andaya, Maddie Madayag, and Alleiah Malaluan. 

Zianbeau Edoc and Lisa Sarines reigned supreme in their respective 11-14 age divisions of the ICTSI Pradera Verde Junior PGT Championship on Wednesday, August 13, at Pradera Verde in Lubao, Pampanga.Edoc turned in a solid closing round of 70 to complete a dominant performance in the boys’ 11-14 division, finishing with a total of 141 for a convincing win, while Vito Sarines carded the day’s best score of 69 to secure runner-up honors at 143. Race Manhit posted a 72 to finish third with 146.“I was making more putts today and hitting my wedges closer to the pin. I’ve learned the importance of starting strong and reading the greens better,” said Edoc, who notched back-to-back wins after skipping the first four legs of the series.In the girls’ 11-14 bracket, Lisa Sarines surged past twin sister Mona with a brilliant 68 to capture her third leg title, closing with a four-under 140 total. Mona, who shot at 71 in the opening round, matched that on Day 2 to capture silver at 142.“It feels very refreshing and relieving. I’ve been working harder and harder with my coach,” Lisa shared after reclaiming the top spot in the division.Kendra Garingalao (73-151) placed third, maintaining her No. 3 spot in the rankings behind the Sarines twins.

Iran proved once again that it thrives under pressure, outlasting world No. 9 Serbia in another five-set thriller to punch its ticket to the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.The Iranians, ranked 16th in the world, battled to a hard-fought 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9 victory—just days after surviving hosts Philippines in a dramatic pool-play decider, 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20.Far from being rattled by their string of five-setters, Iran head coach Roberto Piazza said he sees them as proof of his team’s resilience and growth.“Worried? No,” Piazza said after the win. “I remember one player telling me during the game against the Philippines, ‘Coach, don’t be worried.’ I’ve never been worried in my life. We prepared the team—and all the coaches—to reach this level, to be able to play three games in a row. This is the mindset we are using in the tournament.”Still, Piazza expressed some frustration, noting that his squad is capable of more. “These five-setters are the experiences we need to learn on the court. We have 11 completely new players, and until now, they are still not fully able to understand my volleyball language. That’s why I’m a little disappointed,” he admitted.With the win, Iran became the last Asian nation standing in the 32-team tournament. But Piazza quickly shifted his focus to the looming quarterfinal against Czechia, with a Final Four berth at stake.“Sorry, I’ve already stopped celebrating. My players need to stop immediately too because our next opponent played earlier at 3:30. Their game was not as long as ours, so we have less time to recover. We need to focus mentally on everything,” Piazza stressed.Czechia, meanwhile, clinched its first-ever quarterfinal appearance as an independent nation after sweeping Tunisia, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23, in its Round of 16 match. The Czechs are already assured of at least an eighth-place finish, surpassing their previous best of 10th in 2010.For Iran, the road only gets tougher. But if their back-to-back five-set victories are any indication, this team has no plans of backing down.