FILE–The Criss Cross King Crunchers celebrate a point in a Spikers' Turf Open Conference game. –PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Criss Cross is eager to reach the top of the 2024 Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference even without superstar Marck Espejo.
After settling for a second-place finish in their Spikers' Turf debut in the Open Conference, the King Cruncher will be hoping to capture the crown this time around with key new players like Nico Almendras and Francis Saura as they take on nine teams, including rival Cignal.
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Espejo, a latecomer to the Open Conference after a successful title run in South Korea, will miss the entire duration of the tournament due to duties with Kubota Spears in Japan's V.League.
READ: Criss Cross announces 10-team Spikers' Turf Invitational
But libero Manuel Sumanguid believes the team remains formidable with Open Conference Jude Garcia leading the way bolstered by newcomers Almendras and Saura.
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“Marck was a big factor on our team as our 'go-to man', but I'm glad Jude also stepped up at the last conference,” said Sumanguid, a five-time Best Libero winner. “The adaptation of Nico and Francis was fluid since we have already been teammates in the national team. Both have adapted well to the team. We are working as a unit to achieve our goals for this tournament,” Sumanguid added.
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Sumanguid said they will continue to embrace coach Tai Bundit's “happy, happy” mantra, which worked wonders for Ateneo in UAAP women's volleyball and Creamline's first PVL championships.
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READ: Spikers' Turf: Criss Cross turns to Espejo to secure victory in the ultimate
“We will continue to bring Coach Tai's 'happy and happy' mentality to this conference,” Sumanguid said. “Now we have a bigger goal: to reach the top, but we want to play every game with joy and concentration.”
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“Whether it is an essential match or not, our objective is to face each match with courage and determination,” he added.
Criss Cross will begin their title campaign against VNS on Wednesday next week at 4 pm at Ynares Sports Activities Enviornment in Pasig Metropolis.
Sumanguid is thrilled to compete in the 10-team field, which also features two college teams and V-League finalists, Far Japanese College-DN Metal and De La Salle College-EcoOil.
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“We are grateful that Spikers' Turf is back and happy that all the college teams din na kasali. It will be an exciting conference. My teammates and I worked very hard during our offseason training with coach Tai and pinagtrabahuhan namin as a team yung fails and makes mistakes from the last conference,” Sumanguid said.