Criss Cross shook off a sluggish start before finding its rhythm and imposing its will on 3B, carving out a 22-25, 25-10, 25-13, 25-15 victory to move within a victory from sweeping the first round prelims of the 2026 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference Friday at the Filoil Playtime Centre.

Jude Garcia delivered his best performance of the conference thus far, coming away with 26 points to power the King Crunchers out of their early struggle and into their fourth straight romp in the six-team spikefest.

Garcia converted 19-of-31 attacks, while adding five kill blocks and two aces to provide Criss Cross the needed momentum heading into their much-anticipated clash with fellow unbeaten Savouge Spin Doctors on Sunday at the close of the first phase of the double-round elims.

The four-time league Most Valuable Player admitted the King Crunchers came out a bit complacent and stiff in the early going, but they eventually settled down by sticking to head coach Tai Bundit’s “happy happy” mantra that helped them loosen up and dominate the rest of the way.

“First of all, we got a bit complacent and we underestimated the opposition, that’s why we lost the first set. Teams in the Spikers’ Turf prepared hard. They simply want to beat us so we got to be focused every game and every match. We got to be 100 percent,” Garcia said.

Alche Gupiteo continued his consistent showing with 12 points and 13 excellent receptions, while Lloyd Josafat and Jaron Requinton came off the bench to fire 11 and 10 points, respectively, providing added firepower to their already formidable arsenal.

Adrian Villados dished out 17 excellent sets as well, replacing surprise starter Eco Adajar to start the second frame on their way to the one-hour, 23-minute victory in the tourney.

After the opening-set stumble, the King Crunchers asserted control the rest of the way, dominating the statistical battle with a 54-38 advantage in attacks, an 8-3 edge in blocks, and a 6-3 lead in service aces.

Meanwhile, the Event Masters suffered their second-straight loss to drop to 1-3.