Jude Garcia proved why he’s one of the most reliable scorers in the Spikers’ Turf, helping Criss Cross to survive erstwhile-unbeaten Savouge Aesthetics in a five-set thriller, 25-19, 25-14, 23-25, 18-25, 15-12, to force a triple tie on top of the Invitational Conference semifinals on Tuesday night at Ynares Center Montalban.
The King Crunchers lost steam after taking a two-set lead, with Mark Calado powering the Spin Doctors’ comeback to force a decider.
Garcia took matters into his own hands, scoring five of his 25 points in the fifth set, as Criss Cross tied Savouge and Japanese guest team Kindai University at 3-1.
‘What was running through my mind was that I wanted everything we did, every play, every point, to be clean and done well,’ said Garcia in Filipino. ‘And everyone did contribute, and that helped us get the win. We wouldn’t have achieved it without teamwork. We trusted each other to pull through.’
‘I’m really happy because you can see that all my teammates are contributing, whether they’re inside the court or coming off the bench. You can really feel the eagerness, the desire to win, and the determination to reach the finals again,’ he added.
Criss Cross needs to beat also-ran University of Santo Tomas-Gameville on Thursday at FilOil EcoOil Centre for a fourth straight finals appearance.
A win by Criss Cross will make Thursday’s duel between Savouge and Kindai University a do-or-die for the last finals berth.
‘Even if they’re missing some of their main gunners, we still need to double our effort. We can’t afford to be complacent in this last game because this is our chance to reach the finals,’ said Garcia.
Jaron Requinton was also instrumental with 19 points, scoring the last two hits to seal the nail-biting win after two hours and 25 minutes.
Nico Almendras tallied 10 points, 13 excellent receptions, and five digs. Popoy Colinares and Gian Glorioso had eight and seven points, respectively, and combined for eight of the team’s 13 blocks, as setter Adrian Villados had 23 excellent sets.
Savouge was led by Calado’s 23-point effort. Middle blockers Dan Nicolas and Giles Torres had 15 and 14 points, respectively. Shawie Caritativo added seven points, 16 excellent receptions, and 13 digs to help out libero Rikko Marmeto, who had 32 receptions.