Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo continue to grind with the 21-man pool to unlock Alas Pilipinas’ full potential with only nine days before the Philippines opens its historic hosting of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.

“I’m excited, but we’re still focused on training so we can bring out the team’s full potential,” said Espejo during the MRT3 Go Live! event on Wednesday to promote the country’s hosting of the 32-nation world championship.

“This is a big tournament, of course, but all of us are ready. As a team, we still have a long way to go, but we’ve also come a long way since we started training together, especially during our training camp in Europe.”

Alas Pilipinas went on a two-week training camp in Morocco, Romania and Portugal under the watchful eye of Italian coach Angiolino Frigoni and their mettle will be put to a test against Tunisia in the world championships opening match at 6 p.m. next Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Bagunas is raring to regain his top shape after a year’s layoff because of a knee injury.

“I’m really happy to be back on the court. I wouldn’t say I’m at 100 percent yet, but I’m doing my best to catch up with the team,” Bagunas said.

“We all know how high the level of competition is now, so I’m pushing myself to keep up with them.”

The Philippines battles Egypt on 16 September and Iran on 18 September for its Pool A assignments.