Cignal became the winningest club team in Spikers’ Turf history after claiming their fifth title on Tuesday.
And they have five-team league MVP Marck Espejo to thank for it.
Espejo was the eye of the HD Spikers’ Game Two storm, hammering down 43 big points built on 33 attacks, eight aces, and two kill blocks to complete Cignal’s sweep of arch-rival Go for Gold-Air Force.
The 22-year-old Ateneo great shattered a four-year-old scoring record in the process, eclipsing Howard Mojica’s 41-point outburst with Emilio Aguinaldo College back in 2015.
Despite hitting spike after spike during the five-set match, though, the National Team stalwart was left surprised with the outcome. He then admitted that he’d been more focused on his defensive assignments rather than his scoring.
“Nagulat ako, career-high ko dito,” said Espejo, who also holds the scoring record in the UAAP after dropping 55 points against FEU in the UAAP Season 80 semifinals.
“Actually kasi during the game, mas aware ako sa defensive skills ko like receive, blocks, depensa talaga, kasi dun ako maraming error. So parang ‘di ko napapansin ‘yung mga points ko,” said the Marika-native, who had per game counts of 22.5 receptions and nine receptions in the best-of-three bout.
But the 22-year-old believes that he couldn’t have achieved the feat without Vince Mangulabnan’s unwavering trust in him.
“Ang mindset ko kasi nun is siyempre, expected naman ng Air Force na ‘yung third ball sa akin ibibigay and ‘yun, pinagkatiwalaan lang talaga ako ng setter namin si Vince,” the Finals MVP expressed.
Scoring records and MVP trophies aside, Espejo pointed out that all personal accolades are just bonuses for him. After all, hoisting the championship trophy has and will always be the ultimate goal.
“Pero ayun nga, ‘yung goal talaga namin is mag-champion. And ngayon na-achieve namin ‘yon so itong mga individual na awards is bonus na lang sa amin. And thankful talaga, sobra.”
