By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Jude Garcia of Criss Cross was named Player of the Week Monday for his performance in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.
The league’s two-time Most Valuable Player delivered 12 points, including three blocks, in leading the King Crunchers to 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 victory over the Savouge Spin Doctors in the opener of the round-robin semifinals last Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Criss Cross, which survived two five-set duels against Savouge in the elimination round games, banked on Garcia to beat last year’s Invitational Conference bronze medalist.
“We really focused on service receive, then on our blocking and defense because it was really obvious that Savouge was also preparing for us, so we really worked on every point,” said the former beach volleyball standout.
He had a game-high 16 points on top of 11 receptions and seven digs when the King Crunchers defeated the PGJC-Navy Sealions, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19, last March 19 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to sweep the 10-game elimination round.
Garcia beat Cignal’s Louie Ramirez and Savouge’s Mark Calado for the weekly citation handed out by reporters covering the league.
Meanwhile, Criss Cross has welcomed the return of Marck Espejo, who played his first game this conference against the Spin Doctors after his stint in the Japan V.League with Kubota Spears.
“This is a big deal for us because of course Espejo is a given but the team still shouldn’t relax, they should still be focused, whoever our opponent is, whoever coach Tai (Bundit) puts in, they should contribute. The focus on the game should be 100 percent and the effort should still be there,” said Garcia.
Criss Cross will resume its semis campaign against VNS-Laticrete on Wednesday before another rematch against Cignal on Sunday, both at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. (PNA)
