Marck Espejo’s FC Tokyo continued to dominate Bryan Bagunas’ Oita Miyoshi, scoring a 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17 win in the 2021-22 V.League Division 1 men’s tournament, Saturday at the Sumida City Gymnasium.
Last November, Espejo and Tokyo also went 2-0 against Bagunas and Oita Miyoshi.
This time around, the 6-foot-3 spiker out of Ateneo played his best game since coming off a shoulder injury. He dropped 16 points as they stayed unbeaten versus the Weisse Adler in three outings.
Oita Miyoshi went on a hot start, pulling off a 25-22 first set. But it failed to finish strong in the next two frames.
Knotted at 19 in the second period, FC Tokyo unleashed a 6-3 blast to equalize the match at one set apiece, 25-22.
In the ensuing salvo, Oita Miyoshi went cold anew down the stretch trailing by just a point. FC Tokyo finished with a 5-1 blitz; meanwhile, a Bagunas down-the-line kill was Weisse Adler’s only conversion, 25-20.
Engaged in a close 12-10 affair in the fourth, FC Tokyo drilled five straight points to pull away, 17-10, en route to a 7-16 win-loss card.
Jonas Kvalen topscored for Tokyo with 18 points including three blocks. Yuma Nagatomo added 11 points.
Bagunas went for 22 points built on 18 attacks, three blocks, and a service ace but was not enough to lead his team to victory.
Venezuelan import Emerson Rodriguez had a game-high 24 points.
Oita Miyoshi slid to 5-18, two games behind Espejo’s squad.
The Filipino imports will have their final face-off in the regular season tomorrow at 1:00 PM (Manila time).
