Francis Saura has emerged as the driving force behind the undefeated cruise of the D'Navigators in the 2024 Spikers' Turf Open Conference.

After coming off the bench last season, Saura has been embracing a bigger role for the D'Navigators, proving his worth as a starter by steering his team to a 4-0 surge in the country's premier men's volleyball league organized by Sports Vision.

The 6-foot-5 winger showed the way with 15 points built on 10 attacks and five kill blocks in the rousing 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 victory over Maverick last Wednesday.

Saura then towed the D'Navigators once again two days later, anchoring with 12 points on 10 spikes and two rejections in the hard-earned 25-20, 25-23, 26-24 sweep of VNS-Nasty.

For his unrelenting efforts that buoyed his team to a share of the lead with defending champion Cignal, Saura earned the second Spikers' Turf Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of 3 to 5 April.

"It's natural for an athlete to feel down when you're being benched. That's why I took this opportunity to shine and give my best no matter what," Saura said.

"I tried to absorb and execute properly whatever instruction given to me. I am truly grateful for including me in the first six."

The former National University stalwart edged PGJC-Navy skipper Greg Dolor and Cignal captain JP Bugaoan for the weekly honor deliberated upon by print and online scribes covering the league.