Marck Espejo and the Criss Cross King Crunchers withstood the 38-point explosion of Bryan Bagunas and fended off the Cignal HD Spikers, booking a trip to the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference Finals.
Criss Cross pulled off a dramatic reversal over Cignal to secure the last Finals berth in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference Sunday.
The King Crunchers staged an epic comeback from two-sets down to end the 10-game winning streak of the erstwhile-unbeaten HD Spikers, 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 17-15, in the final game of the round-robin semifinals at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
With the victory, the Rebisco-backed powerhouse set up a date with the defending champions in the best-of-three title series, which will start on May 8, Wednesday.
Marck Espejo came through with his best performance in a Criss Cross uniform, putting up 28 points built on 21 attacks, four aces, and three blocks. He delivered the clutch hits in the frenetic fifth frame to help his side overcome the 38-point explosion of Bryan Bagunas, who pummeled 34 attacks, three denials, and one service ace.
Jude Garcia also made his presence felt with a double-double effort of 20 points and 15 receptions, while Ish Polvorosa fanned 16 excellent sets.
Trailing by a point in the final frame at 11-12, Espejo nailed a cross-court hit that instigated a 3-0 spurt which buoyed Criss Cross to match point. Bagunas managed to give Cignal a lease on life with a hit of his own, before Ysay Marasigan coughed out an attack error to tie things up at 14.
Espejo and Bagunas traded blows from there, but the former Ateneo Blue Eagle pushed the King Crunchers ahead with a backrow hit, 16-15. Kim Malabunga then slammed the door shut on Bagunas to seal the deal.
Despite the conference-high performance of Bagunas, the HD Spikers could not preserve their pristine slate, suffering their first loss in the season-opening tournament.
Jau Umandal managed 15 points, while JP Bugaoan had 13 markers in the loss.