Bryan Bagunas moved one step closer to fulfilling his goal after leading Cignal to a tight Game 1 win over Criss Cross in the 2024 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference finals.
Bagunas was a man on a mission on Wednesday, putting up a big performance to help the HD Spikers take a 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19 victory over the King Crunchers at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to inch closer to retaining the Open Conference title.
The former league MVP fired a game-high 26 points on 23 attacks, two blocks, and one ace to go along with 12 excellent receptions.
(C) Joaqui Flores/Spikers Turf
“Siyempre kami naman, lalo na ako bago ako sa team ng Cignal, gusto ko ‘yung unang year ko dito is makapag-champion,” said Bagunas.
It was an impressive bounce-back victory for Cignal, who was coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to the same team in its final game of the semifinals.
Bagunas said that the team set aside the painful defeat and focused on getting back at Criss Cross.
“And mga teammates ko, andoon rin ‘yung eagerness nila mapanalo this game. So sinet aside nalang namin pagkatalo namin last game and nag-focus kami this finals,” he added.
Bagunas hopes that the HD Spikers can build up from their huge Game 1 victory and finish the job in Game 2 on Friday.
The former National University star also shared that Cignal will head back to work immediately as they try to lessen their errors and polish their schemes for the close-out match.
“Siyempre sobrang saya ko sa performance namin kasi kung anong trinaining namin last training lumabas naman, so sana hopefully sa next game namin e mas mataas pa ‘yung kumpiyansa and mas ma-polish pa namin ‘yung pagkukulang namin this game.”
