Defending champion Cignal and newcomer Criss Cross ignited a new rivalry in men’s club volleyball following a thrilling encounter in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference before a record crowd Sunday evening at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Two of the country’s top spikers went mano a mano n a showdown like no other with Bryan Bagunas leading the HD Spikers’ assault against the Marck Espejo-spiked King Crunchers.

When the Mushroom cloud dissipated, Cignal emerged victorious thanks to the firepower of the newest face of the franchise.

Bagunas, who soldiered on despite suffering from cramps midway through the match, hit a game-high 27 points to power the HD Spikers to a 20-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12, come-from-behind win and in the process spoiled Espejo’s debut.

The 6-foot-5 winger collected 26 kills and an ace in a solid showing that got him the unanimous nod to bag the Spikers’ Turf Player of the Week honors for the period 10 to 14 April.

“Both of my legs cramped up. Good thing I was able to get back. Of course, being new on the team, I wanted to help,” said Bagunas, who is fresh from leading Win Streak to back-to-back titles in the Top Volleyball League in Taiwan.

“I was overcame with my eagerness to help the team,” he added.

Bagunas’ production, leadership, and unquestionable heart kept Cignal unbeaten in five games.

The National University product was the hands-down choice of all print and online scribes regularly covering the league as the week’s finest.

Bagunas eclipsed the other commendable performances shown by Criss Cross open spiker and one-time PoW Jude Garcia and PGJC-Navy’s Joeven Dela Vega.

He, however, downplayed scoring another huge victory over long-time on-court rival Espejo.

For Bagunas, the rivalry is a welcome development to further boost the growth of men’s volleyball in the country as they seek to continue what they started together when the men’s national team earned a historic silver medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in Manila.

“We are not competing against each other because our goal is to show the public what men’s volleyball has to offer so the crowd gets excited, too,” said Bagunas, who also played in Japan V.League before taking his act to Taiwan.

Inching closer to a semifinal berth, Cignal guns for a sweep in its remaining three matches starting Wednesday against D’ Navigators at Ynares Sports Arena before facing VNS-Nasty on 24 April and Maverick on 26 April to wrap up its elims campaign.