Both Marck Espejo and Bryan Bagunas did not play in their respective matches in the 2021-22 V.League Division 1 men’s tournament, Saturday.
FC Tokyo averted disaster, surviving VC Nagano’s gritty stand, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20, in the 2021-22 V.League Division 1 men’s tournament, Saturday at the Swan Dome in Okaya.
Espejo was not fielded in anew after missing their Saturday game against Toray last week while playing just a short while in the third set of their Sunday match.
Jonas Kvalen led the fight for FC Tokyo with 23 points while Yuma Nagatomo chalked up 17 points in the win.
Kota Ikeda paced the Tridents, erupting for 31 points on 28 attacks, two service aces, and a block.
FC Tokyo did a good job of limiting Rivan Nurmulki to just 17 points on a 31.4-percent spiking rate.
Espejo’s squad rose to 9-21 while VC Nagano fell to a woeful 1-30.
Meanwhile, Panasonic handed Oita Miyoshi its ninth-straight defeat, 25-16, 25-16, 25-11, at the Cycle Shop Kodama Osu Arena.
Bagunas did not play for the first time this season despite being in the gameday lineup.
The 6-foot-5 spiker was a big hole for Weisse Adler, who currently has the seventh-most points in the 10-team league with 433, an average of 14.43 points in 30 outings.
Back on January 15, Oita Miyoshi pulled off a five-setter upset against the Panthers with Bagunas paving the way with 28 huge points.
Kunihiro Shimizu led Panasonic with 13 attacks, three blocks, and a service ace to finish with 17 points.
Polish import Michał Kubiak added 12 points of his own while Akihiro Yamauchi chipped in 10 points.
The Panthers moved to the Final Three at 21-10 while Weisse Adler sank to 5-26 with their skid stretching to nine games. Their last win was against Nagoya on January 29.
Emerson Rodriguez was the lone Oita player in double digits with 12 points while Kota Yamada netted nine points.
The Weisse Adler look to end their nine-game slide tomorrow when they face Panasonic anew at 12 pm at the same Oita arena.
