Gian Glorioso of Criss Cross during the 2024 Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference. PVL MediaMANILA -- Tapped to play a bigger role when starter Kim Malabunga suffered an injury, Gian Glorioso has risen to the occasion and exceeded expectations.
Glorioso has played consistently for the Criss Cross King Crunchers in the 2024 Spikers' Turf Invitational Conference, and his strong outings in their last couple of games helped his team secure the No. 1 seed at the end of the elimination round.
The former Ateneo Blue Eagle sizzled with 15 points on eight attacks, five blocks, and two aces in the King Crunchers' 25-8, 25-13, 25-7 sweep of the also-ran Chichi DHTSI Brotherhood on Wednesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Four days later, he followed it up with a 10-point outing highlighted by three kill blocks to power Criss Cross in trouncing fellow semifinalists, Savouge Spin Doctors, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22, at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
READ: Criss Cross secures No. 1 seed by beating Savouge
READ: Semis-bound Criss Cross overpowers Chichi DHTSI
Leading Criss Cross to its second straight semifinal appearance since joining the premier men's volleyball league in the Open Conference was enough for Glorioso to earn the nod as the Spikers' Turf Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Pilipinas Live for the period of November 25 to December 1.
"'Yung collective goal lang [is] to win the championship. 'Yun lang naman. I just want to do my best to help the team in any way that I can," Glorioso said.
Glorioso was unanimously voted by print and online reporters covering the beat for the weekly honor over his teammate Nico Almendras, Cignal's Mark Calado, Eugene Gloria of EcoOil-La Salle, PGJC-Navy's Greg Dolor, and Savouge's Shawie Caritativo.
Glorioso became the second King Cruncher to receive the recognition after his teammate Jude Garcia won back-to-back in the previous weeks of the season-ending tournament.
Reaching the semis was just the first step to their goal as the veteran middle blocker seeks to bring glory to the Rebisco-backed squad after losing in the Open Conference finals.
"We're more hungry [for a title] this conference kasi parang natikman na namin eh ,like we were almost there, kulang na lang. So, definitely, we're more motivated this conference and 'yun din, tiwala din kami sa sarili namin na gawin iyong best namin," Glorioso said.
Criss Cross will battle in the round-robin semis archrival Cignal, DN Steel-Far Eastern University, Savouge, and Japanese guest team, Kondohgumi Hyogo.
The semifinal round fires off on Wednesday at FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.
Games are streamed live and on-demand via the Pilipinas Live app and on www.spikersturf.ph.