Criss Cross King Crunches’ Ish Polvorosa during a Spikers’ Turf Open Conference game. –SPIKERS TURF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Criss Cross cruised to its seventh straight win while defending champion Cignal weathered Savouge in a five-set thriller to tighten its grip on the second place in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference on Wednesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Setter Ish Polvorosa continued to bring out the best in Criss Cross as it swept VNS-Laticrete, 25-12, 25-18, 25-22, en route to a 7-0 record.
Polvorosa paced the King Crunchers with 19 excellent sets on top of four points as reigning MVP Jude Garcia led the collective effort with 11 points, seven excellent receptions, and six digs.
READ: Spikers’ Turf: Ish Polvorosa leading Criss Cross’ perfect start
Nico Almendras contributed 10 points, while Chumason Njigha and Jaron Requinton added nine points each to send VNS to its third straight loss with a 1-6 record amid CJ Segui’s 12-point and 11-dig effort.
Meanwhile, Cignal needed to pull off a come-from-behind 27-25, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, 15-13 win to weather Savouge and rise to a 6-1 record.
Steven Rotter, who was benched in the first two sets, came to the rescue for the HD Spikers after trailing 2-6 in the fifth with three consecutive aces.
Cignal HD Spikers during a Spikers’ Turf Open Conference game. –SPIKERS TURF PHOTO
Mark Calado stopped the bleeding for the Spin Doctors with back-to-back hits. But Martin Bugaoan nailed three consecutive quick attacks, pushing Cignal ahead 9-8.
Madz Gampong, though, delivered the timely hits to tie the deficit to 14-13 only for Giles Torres to commit a crucial service error to send the defending champion its sixth win.
READ: Spikers’ Turf: Criss Cross hands Cignal its first loss via sweep
Team Captain Wendel Miguel led Cignal with 18 points and 12 excellent receptions. Bugaoan had 13 points, while his older brother JP, Rotter, and Vince Abrot added 10 points each
“I shuffled the lineup and rotated players. The good thing about this is that those who were eager to play, especially Martin and Vince, performed very well tonight,” said Cignal coach Dexter Clamor in Filipino.
Calado led Savougue’s gallant stand with 25 points. Gampong delivered 21 points, all from attacks, while Shawie Caritativo delivered a stellar birthday performance with 19 points and 26 excellent receptions only for his team to slide to a 4-3 record in third place.
Cignal and Criss Cross, the finalists of the last two Spikers’ Turf finals, collide in a second-round duel on Friday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Meanwhile, Alpha Insurance pounced on the short-handed PGJC-Navy squad, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23, for its second win to improve to 2-5.
Edward Camposano powered the Protectors with 17 points on 14 attacks, two aces, and a block on top of 12 excellent receptions. Vincent Nadera chimed in with 14 points, while JJ Javelona had 10 points and 12 excellent receptions.
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Navy absorbed its fifth straight loss with a 1-6 record despite John Ashley Jacob’s 17-point outing.