San juan: Jude Garcia came up with another impressive performance, carrying Criss Cross to a fourth straight final appearance after beating UST-Gameville, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, Thursday in the 2025 Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
According to Philippines News Agency, Garcia delivered 31 points on a 30-of-48 spiking clip as the King Crunchers improved to a 4-1 win-loss record, setting up a title duel with the winner between the Savouge Aesthetics Spin Doctors and visiting Kindai University of Japan. The victory also eliminated defending champion Cignal, which ended its eight consecutive finals appearances.
"It was very challenging because UST really made us suffer and it really showed how we could regroup and compose ourselves on the court to get the win," said the three-time MVP Garcia after the one hour and 54-minute match. "I feel like it's just one step at a time. We can't be complacent with what we're doing because we had a lot of lapses in the past games, so we need to work on every point and every set of the match in the championship," he added.
Nico Almendras chipped in 10 points and 21 excellent receptions, while Gian Glorioso added nine points. Sherwin Umandal had 21 points on 19 attacks, a block, and an ace, alongside six digs for UST-Gameville, which concluded its campaign with a 1-4 semifinal card. Gboy De Vega contributed 17 points, 21 receptions, and five digs, while Trevor Valera and Kenneth Salvador scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.
