Criss Cross sends NU crashing

Criss Cross shook off an opening-set stumble before taking control the rest of the way to dispatch National University (NU)-Archipelago Builders, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-20, and remain unbeaten in the 2026 Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Adrian Villados orchestrated the King Crunchers’ efficient offensive attack, keeping the reigning champions in command after the first-set setback as they notched their fourth consecutive victory to tie ClearSkiiin atop the standings with identical 4-0 records in the tournament organized by Sports Vision.

Earlier, Howard Guerra orchestrated a dazzling display of playmaking, steering VNS-Laticrete to its second consecutive victory with a 26-24, 25-13, 25-27, 25-17 victory over 3B.

The 16-year-old Guerra took his playmaking to another level, dishing out a conference-best 37 excellent sets alongside six points. He previously recorded 18 excellent sets in the Griffins’ first victory against the Armed Forces of the Philippines last 27 October.

Villados dished out a whopping 38 excellent sets as Criss Cross converted 64 of its 126 attacks for an impressive 50.8-percent success rate, finding ways to penetrate the league’s top blocking team and hand the Bulldogs their first defeat of the conference.

He also chipped in three points and nine excellent digs in the one-hour, 42-minute victory.

“NU is truly a strong blocking team. My mindset was simply to build confidence in my spikers and create space for them on the floor. Against defenders like that, you need plenty of options on where to distribute the ball, while staying fully committed to Coach Tai’s (Bundit) system,” the 26-year-old setter said.

“It’s given that most of them are national team players, tall blockers, and high-reaching spikers with extensive experience.”