Marck Espejo vows to make himself available to play for the Philippine men’s volleyball team in the 19th Asian Games in September despite his commitments in the Korean V-League.
Drafted third overall by the league champions Incheon Korean Air Jumbos as an import, the winger is set to fly back to Korea to begin his training following his national squad return stint in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Men next month in Taiwan.
Espejo, one of the key players who skipped the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last month, is included in the 22-man pool that will be selected to represent the country in the Challenge Cup set 8 to 15 July.
“After AVC, I’m heading to Korea (to train). I don’t think I’ll be available to play in another tournament (for the national team) but I’ll be back before the Asian Games,” the five-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines Most Valuable Player said.
The 26-year-old open spiker along with Bryan Bagunas, who is currently under contract with Win Streak in the Taiwan Top League, played a huge role in the Nationals silver medal finish in the 2019 SEA Games held in Manila.
The two main gunners and most of the core of the national squad under former coach Dante Alinsunurin, who was replaced by Brazilian Sergio Veloso early this year, begged off from participating in the Phnom Penh edition of the biennial meet citing personal reasons.
But with both power-hitting duo expressing interest to don the tricolor once again, hopes are high for the Philippines’ good showing in the Hangzhou Asian Games slated 23 September to 8 October.
It will mark the Pinoy spikers’ return to the continental sports meet since the 1974 Tehran, Iran edition where they finished sixth.
As part of its preparation for the Challenge Cup, the national team is scheduled to play world No. 12 Netherlands and world no. 25 China in a couple of friendly matches as the Philippine National Volleyball Federation takes advantage of the country’s hosting of the Volleyball Nations League next month.
