Marck Espejo was selected third overall by Korean V-League three-time defending champions Incheon Korean Air Jumbos in the 2023 KOVO Asian Quota Draft on Thursday at the Jeju Sun Hotel in South Korea.
This will be Espejo’s fifth stint abroad, having played in Japan twice (Oita Miyoshi and FC Tokyo), Thailand (Visakha), and Bahrain (Bani Jamra).
The 6-foot-3 outside spiker recently led Cignal to the 2023 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference championship.
Espejo’s selection means there will be a Filipino in both men’s and women’s divisions of the KVL after MJ Phillips was drafted fifth by Gwangju Pepper Bank last week.
This is the first time the league opened for Asian quota imports.
Mongolia’s Eddie was picked first by Daejeon Samsung while Japanese libero Ryohei Iga went to Suwon KEPCO as the second selection.
Middle blocker Batsükh Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia went to Ansan OK Financial Group as the fourth pick while Chinese Taipei’s Pei-Chang Tsai was selected by Cheonan Hyundai Capital at fifth.
Taiwanese open spiker Hung-Min Liu and Japanese opposite hitter Issei Otake rounded out the draftees, going to Uijeongbu KB Insurance and Seoul Woori Card, respectively.
Other Filipinos who participated in the three-day tryout were Jau Umandal, JP Bugaoan, and Manuel Sumangguid III.
