By Abby Toralba
STAR spiker Marck Espejo is taking his skills to South Korea after being drafted by the Korean V. League reigning champion Incheon Korean Air Jumbos yesterday.
The 6-foot-3 open hitter and former national team member was tabbed as the third overall pick in the 2023 KOVO Asia Quota Draft after undergoing a three-day tryout.
He will be the first Filipino volleyball player to take his talents to the KVL, opening the doors for Asian imports for the first time.
This will be the fourth international stint for Espejo, who also played in Japan for Oita Miyoshi and FC Tokyo, in Thailand with Visakha Volleyball Club, and in Bahrain with Bani Jamra.
Last March, the 26-year-old spiker led Cignal HD Spikers to the 2023 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference crown.
Espejo, a product of the Ateneo Blue Eagles and a UAAP champion and MVP, tried his luck in South Korea along with compatriots Manuel Sumanguid III, Jayvee Sumagaysay and Joshua Umandal, but the three went unpicked.
Earlier this month, middle blocker MJ Phillips was drafted in the women’s division of the KVL, picked fifth by the Gwangju Pepper Bank.
Phillips played for the Petro Gazz Angels in the Premier Volleyball League and was named as the one of the Best Middle Blockers of the 2023 All-Filipino Conference.
She was the lone Filipina to be drafted in the KVL, with Dindin Santiago-Manabat of Akari, F2 Logistics’ Majoy Baron and Iris Tolenada, Mylene Paat of Chery Tiggo, and Creamline’s Jia De Guzman going undrafted.
