Jude Garcia’s three Spikers’ Turf Most Valuable Player awards were no surprise during the 2025 Invitational Conference.

The veteran spiker’s consistency and heart helped the Criss Cross King Crunchers reach their fourth consecutive finals appearance.

Semifinal dominance

In the critical semifinal week, Garcia led Criss Cross to three straight wins, finishing with a 4-1 record in the round. The King Crunchers now face Japan’s Kindai University in a winner-take-all championship game on Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.

Garcia scored 31 points, including 30 attacks and a block, to secure Criss Cross’ hard-fought win against UST-Gameville, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, clinching the finals berth. Earlier, he tallied 25 points in a five-set thriller to overcome Savouge Aesthetics, 25-19, 25-14, 23-25, 18-25, 15-12, and opened the three-game swing with eight points in a 25-9, 25-9, 25-13 demolition of Australian guest team ProVolley Academy.

“One step at a time lang kasi hindi pwedeng maging complacent… Kaya kailangan namin trabahuhin every point and every set ng match sa championship,” said the Far Eastern University product.

Player of the week

Garcia’s heroics earned him the unanimous Spikers’ Turf Press Corps Player of the Week award, presented by Pilipinas Live, for November 24 to 27. He surpassed teammate Adrian Villados, Cignal’s Jau Umandal, and Kindai University’s Ryutaro Aun and Jaruka Misugi.

Despite missing teammates Marck Espejo, Kim Malabunga, and Eco Adajar due to Alas Pilipinas’ training camp in Taiwan, Garcia continued to lead Criss Cross as the team’s top performer. He earned his second weekly honor of the year and now has seven career weekly awards in the league.