Jude Garcia continues to put Criss Cross on the pedestal as the King Crunchers jumpstarted their semifinals campaign on a high note in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.
The league’s two-time Most Valuable Player consistently brought his A-game, keeping Criss Cross unscathed with a huge 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 victory over Savouge in the opener of the round-robin semifinals on Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
In a pair of elimination round games, the King Crunchers struggled to keep the Spin Doctors at bay, needing to escape two five-set duels. But this time, Garcia hammered 12 points to make quick work of last year’s Invitational Conference bronze medalist.
“Talagang nagfocus kami sa service receive saka sa blockings namin at sa depensa kasi talagang kitang-kita naman kasi yung Savouge nagpiprepare din sila sa amin kaya talagang tinrabaho namin every point,” said Garcia.
Criss Cross remained unbeaten in 11 games as the former beach volleyball standout also led the King Crunchers’ 10-game elimination round sweep with a game-high 16 points on top of 11 receptions and seven digs to tow the PGJC-Navy Sealions, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19, on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
For his valuable contributions that kept his team unbeaten, Garcia was named as the Spikers’ Turf Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the duration of March 19 to 23.
The high-leaping outside spiker beat Cignal’s Louie Ramirez and Savouge’s Mark Calado for the weekly citation handed out by reporters covering the league streamed live and on-demand via the Pilipinas Live app and on www.spikersturf.ph.
Seemingly cruising throughout the competition, the King Crunchers received one more piece to their redemption run as Marck Espejo played his first game this conference against the Spin Doctors after finishing his stint in the Japan V.League with Kubota Spears.
Despite the team getting even more stacked, Garcia warned his team about possibly falling into complacency as Criss Cross fell short to Cignal in the last two Spikers’ Turf finals.
“Sobrang laking bagay lang ito para sa amin kasi syempre given naman si Espejo pero hindi pa rin dapat magrelax yung team, dapat focus pa rin, dapat kahit sinong kalaban namin, kahit sino ipasok ni coach Tai (Bundit) dapat nagko-contribute. Dapat yung focus sa game 100 percent saka yung effort nandoon pa rin talaga,” said Garcia.
Criss Cross eyes its third straight finals appearance when it resumes its semis campaign against VNS-Laticrete on Wednesday before another rematch against Cignal on Sunday both at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
