Bryan Bagunas, Marck Espejo hold heads high after Alas Pilipinas’ historic FIVB Worlds quest

There's nothing to be ashamed of for Alas Pilipinas Men attacking duo Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo as they have given the Filipino crowd something to be proud of during their 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Champion debut.

It was a dream of a lifetime for both outside hitters who have been the pillars of Philippine men’s volleyball. Now that the historic pursuit is over, Alas is left with so much to build on.

Bagunas, who captained the national team and finished as the third best scorer in this edition of the group stage with 70 points behind Belgium’s Ferre Reggers (73) and Bulgaria’s Aleksandar Nikolov (71) — both of whom saw their nations advance to the Round of 16 — was coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for over a year. But doubts quickly faded once he set foot inside the court.

“Sabi nga namin makapanalo lang kami ng first set history na. So, ayun. Nanalo pa kami ng isang game tapos umabot pa sa ganitong game na nag-fifth set. Nagkaroon pa kami ng chance makapasok sa Round of 16. I think ito na yung pinaka memorable na volleyball experience ko,” Bagunas said.

[We said, even if we just our first set, that's history already. We also won a game and then had a game like this that reached the fifth set. We even had the chance to enter the Round of 16. I think this is my most memorable volleyball experience.]

Bagunas felt the love of the 14,000-strong Filipino crowd when the Philippines battled world No. 16 Iran, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 20-22, to dispute the last spot in Group A for the knockout stage slated on Saturday.

“I think dahil nandito tayo sa Pilipinas, na-feel namin yung suporta ng buong bansa, yung Filipino volleyball fans. I think malaking tulong yun para sa amin. Na-boost yung morale namin lalong lalo na yung coaching staff namin maganda yung mga naituro sa amin. Kaya siguro naging maganda yung resulta ng tournament na to,” said Bagunas. 

“[I’m really] speechless [with the crowd]. Last time na na-feel ko yung ganitong suporta nung 2019 SEA Games. Nakaka-proud maging Filipino kung ganito yung mga sumusuporta sa amin. Nagpapasalamat kami sa kanila. Hindi namin ineexpect na makukuha namin yung ganitong suporta. Kahit gaano kalakas yung makakalaban namin talagang nandiyan sila,” he added.

[I think because we're here in the Philippines, we felt the support of the whole country, the Filipino volleyball fans. I think it's a great help to us. Our morale was boosted and especially because our coaching staff taught us a lot of good things. That's probably why we had good results in the tournament... Speechless. Last time I felt this kind of support was in the 2019 SEA Games. It makes me feel proud to be Filipino when the support is like this. We really want to thank them. We did not expect to receive this kind of support. No matter how strong our opponent was, they were there with us.]

There was no shortage of support coming from all sides for Alas — from the federation and the coaching staff to their sponsors down to the home crowd that it drew strength from. Bagunas is thankful they had it all in their arsenal.

“Yung turo ng coaching staff and pagbibigay talaga ng suporta sa amin ng federation, mga sponsor pinadala kami sa Europe. May training camp kami na almost one month. I think malaking bagay yun for the men’s volleyball. Para maka-experience kami ng ganong style ng volleyball,” Bagunas said.

“Naipakita naman namin kung ano yung meron sa men’s volleyball. I think ito na yung simula para maging tuluy tuloy yung progress. Para maipakita namin sa buong mundo na meron din tayong potential,” he added.

[The lessons of the coaching staff and the support given by the federation, our sponsors, they sent us to Europe. We had a training camp for almost one month. I think that was a big thing for men's volleyball, to experience that style of volleyball... We were able to show what we have in men's volleyball. I think this is the start for the progress to become continuous. That we showed the whole world that we also have potential.]

For Espejo, who gradually picked up his game throughout the first round, he is hoping his leadership will resonate with the national team moving forward.

The five-time UAAP MVP was only a couple of months removed from an ankle injury that shelved him from tournaments leading up to the Worlds.

"Mabigat lang kasi akala natin sa atin na ‘yung panalo. Pero sabi ko naman sa team sa huddle, nothing to be ashamed of kasi hindi naman namin inexpect na aabot tayo sa ganito kalayo," Espejo said.

“Sixteen months, seventeen months with Coach A [Angiolino Frigoni]. Medyo [short] ako sa team kasi coming from injuries. Pero ibibigay ko talaga yung guidance sa mga nakakabatang teammates ko talaga. Kasi sila yung naghirap para i-push yung team. Lalo na kami ni Lolo, ni Bryan [Bagunas]. Lolo tawag nila sa amin kasi matanda na kami,” he said.

[It's just heavy because we thought that we already had the win. But I said during the team huddle, nothing to be ashamed of because we never expected to reach this far... Sixteen months, seventeen months with Coach A. I didn't have a lot of time with the team because I was coming from injuries. But I gave guidance to some of my younger teammates. They were the ones who worked hard to push the team. Me and Bryan, they call us Lolo because we're already old.]

Despite setbacks along the way including roster changes, Espejo believes each member of the national team made the most of their chance inside the court.

“Sila din yung nag-push sa amin. Kasi kung wala naman yung second six, hindi kami aabot sa ganito so nagtulungan talaga kami. Nagkaka-set back talaga, like yung kay Steve [Rotter being ineligible to play]. Happy ako for Toto [Leo Ordiales] na nag-step up. Lahat ng mga na-sub in nag-perform talaga. Kasi iniisip namin once in a lifetime na experience to. Once na ipasok kami sa laro gagawin namin yung best. Kasi hindi natin alam kung kailan kami makakapunta ulit dito,” he concluded.

[They were the ones who pushed us. If we didn't have the second six, we wouldn't reach this so everyone really helped. Setbacks just happen, like with Steve. I'm happy for Toto that he was able to step up. Everyone who subbed in performed. We were thinking this is a once in a lifetime experience. Once we are in, we have to do our best. Because we don't know when we'll be back here.]

—JMB, GMA Integrated News