All eyes will be on Alas Pilipinas Men as they head into the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, following a historic campaign in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship earlier this year.
Espejo believes that the team’s impressive showing in the World Championship — finishing 19th and falling just two points short of the round of 16 — has caught the attention of their Southeast Asian neighbors, who will undoubtedly come well-prepared to face them.
“During and after po nung World Championship, ‘yung magandang run po ng Philippines against mga top countries, I’m sure po and confident po na lahat ng makakalaban namin sa SEA Games pinaghahandaan po talaga tayo,” said the 28-year-old outside spiker.
“Parang all eyes on us po, pero siyempre different level, different ambiance.”
But just like their opponents, Alas Pilipinas has left no stones unturned. Players were pulled from their respective Spikers’ Turf clubs in the midst of the Invitational Conference to begin preparations for the biennial meet.
The Nationals then went on a two-week training camp in Taiwan last month before resuming their preparations here in the Philippines.
(C) PNVF
Alas Pilipinas will leave for Bangkok on December 8 for the tournament, scheduled from December 10 to 19, allowing them to reunite early with star Bryan Bagunas, who is still competing in the SV.League with Osaka Bluteon.
The team has done it all except train with Bagunas, but Espejo is confident their captain can quickly get up to speed in time for the SEA Games.
“Yes, so far naman po, okay naman po, pero may kulang pa kasi wala pa po si Bryan. Kaya po kami aalis nang maaga para makasama si Bryan sa Thailand at masama ulit siya sa rotation, sa sistema ni Coach A (Frigoni),” said Espejo.
“Knowing Bryan naman, matagal na namin siyang kasama, alam na niya ‘yung gagawin din. Siguro mag-a-adjust lang po kami sa mga makakalaban namin.”
With preparations nearly complete, Espejo feels excited to put all their hard work on the court and hopes to bring the Philippines back to the podium.
“Pero ‘yun, excited pa rin po kasi ‘yung pinaghahandaan talaga namin, makakuha po ng medal sa SEA Games. Any color po will do.”
#WATCH: Marck Espejo is confident Bryan Bagunas can make up for lost time in their #SEAGames2025 prep as Bagunas will only get to join Alas Men in Thailand 🇵🇭🏐#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/7WrlqgDGpG
📹 @jonashdcd /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/1gO6hynSvu
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 6, 2025
