Bryan Bagunas made an explosive introduction on the world stage, showing no signs of slowing down despite a lengthy layoff due to a knee injury.

A 23-point outing highlighted by a display of his scoring prowess in the third set made Bagunas and Alas Pilipinas’ debut in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship memorable Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Although his efforts came to naught after the Filipinos suffered a 13-25, 17-25, 23-25 loss to taller and seasoned Tunisia in the Pool A opener, the fearless winger proved he’s back in his old ways.

Bagunas was unfazed against the 11-time African champion under the bright lights of the prestigious volleyball tournament featuring 32 nations.

“I’m just so happy because it took me over a year to step back inside the court. Super glad I’m able to contribute to the team,” the 27-year-old Alas ace said.

Bagunas suffered a knee injury during the 2024 Southeast Asian V-League after an awkward landing following a jump serve in the fourth set against Indonesia in August last year. He was sidelined since then and was even cut from his former Taiwan champion club Win Streak.

The National University product patiently worked his way back into game form.

“I didn’t let my injury get in the way of my desire and eagerness to play again. I knew that time that we’ll be hosting the World Championship and I told myself that I must be there. I have to be there to help the team,” he said.

It was worth the wait.

“I got goosebumps. I got to feel the energy of the crowd. I’m just happy to feel the love and support of the crowd,” Bagunas said.

Understandably, Alas on its maiden exploit in the World Championship was jittery in the first two sets, crumbling under pressure in front of the home crowd, which included no less than President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos on the eve of his 68th birthday and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.

But Bagunas, who has been a regular fixture in the national squad since 2017, refused to go down without a fight as he willed Alas back into life in a furious barrage of missiles that stunned the Tunisians in the third set.

Consecutive aces by Bagunas gave Alas an early two-point lead and the open spiker hammered timely hits to keep the third frame tight until the closing stretch.

Bagunas took matters into his own hands, hitting tying kills from the frame’s 21st point. He knotted it at 23 with a backrow kill for the set’s final deadlock.

Tunisia, however, stopped Alas in its tracks with Ossama Ben Romdhane block-penetrating kill before captain Khaled Ben Slimene won the match-clinching joust off the Filipinos’ over-reception.

Despite the loss, Bagunas’ performance turned heads.

The Alas team captain tallied 20 attacks, two aces and a kill block in a game-high scoring output. Bagunas also had two digs and two excellent receptions.

“Happy for Bryan’s recovery. It’s been a year so happy he has recovered,” Alas’ other top winger Marck Espejo said.

“It was a great recovery because he’s still the ace of the team. Happy and proud of him,” added Espejo, who finished with nine points.

Espejo, however, acknowledged that all of Alas should step up to help Bagunas.

“As a team we should show a collective effort to help Bryan. This is a team sport, everybody should contribute,” he said.

Alas will try to bounce back on Tuesday against another African powerhouse in Egypt.

“We’ve seen how many errors we have committed last game,” Bagunas said of Alas’ 19 miscues.

“We have to lessen that in our next game and focus on correcting even our little mistakes.”