The Criss Cross King Crunchers make it crowded in the third to fifth spots of the Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference, as they eliminate the Martelli Meats Master Butchers.
Criss Cross booted the winless Martelli Meats out of the playoff race with a dominant 25-9, 25-19, 25-16 victory, securing their second consecutive win in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The race for the semifinals just got even more exciting as the King Crunchers created a logjam from the third to fifth spots, tying Cignal and Savouge with identical 4-1 records in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
Francis Saura spearheaded the charge for Criss Cross with 14 points in the swift, one-hour and seven-minute domination of the Master Butchers.
“Marami pa kaming kailangan i-polish pa. Hindi naman natatapos ‘yung improvement, there’s always room for improvement ika nga. So ngayon, sa susunod naming mga laban, matitibay na ‘yung mga teams so mas papatibayin namin ‘yung opensa at depensa namin,” said Saura.
Jude Garcia tallied 10 points to go along with eight excellent receptions, while Chumason Njigha and Gian Glorioso combined for six blocks, finishing with nine and seven points, respectively, in the victory.
Ish Polvorosa dished out 16 excellent sets and added three points as the King Crunchers continued to surge in the Invitational Conference, powered by ArenaPlus, Mikasa, and Alpha Insurance & Surety Company.
Criss Cross returns on Sunday to take on the league-leading FEU-DN Steel in a much-anticipated clash at 6:00 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Meanwhile, Martelli Meats fell to 0-6, tied with Chichi DHTSI at the bottom of the standings.
Kenrod Umali paced the Master Butchers with 11 points, while Angelo Reyes and Jerome Cordez added six and five markers, respectively.
Martelli Meats looks to finally get its first win against the Titans, also on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.