MARCK Espejo and the Alas Pilipinas national men’s volleyball team yielded to host and SV. League runners-up Osaka Bluteon in straight sets 11-25, 21-25, 21-25 yesterday at the start of the AVC Men’s Champions League preliminaries at the Panasonic Arena in Osaka.
Represented by the Cignal-Alas squad, the Pinoy spikers proved no match to the prowess of the Bluteon, bannered by several Japanese men’s national team players, with Espejo tallying just nine points on eight attacks and a block.
Louie Ramirez and Steven Rotter chipped in eight and seven markers, respectively, for Cignal-Alas.
Alas’ participation in the Asian tourney is part of the nationals’ preparation for the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship from September 12 to 28 to be held in the Philippines. – Abby Toralba
Japanese opposite spiker and national team ace Yuji Nishida led the Bluteon with 13 points while national team wing spiker Shoma Tomita and Cuban reinforcement Miguel Angel Lopez Castro added 12 markers each.
Bluteon took a 1-0 mark in Pool B preliminaries while Cignal-Alas slipped to 0-1.
Cignal-Alas tries to bounce back Tuesday against China’s Shanghai Bright Men’s Volleyball Club.
