Cuban Melissa Vargas shines in Turkey's victory in Olympic volleyball

July 29, 2024

Cuban-born naturalized Turkish Melissa Vargas, a volleyball star at the global level, led Turkey in its Olympic debut against the Netherlands and with 30 points shone in the 3-2 victory over the Europeans.

Vargas, originally from Cienfuegos, started the first two sets at half capacity, committing unforced errors, nothing typical of her class. But in the three subsequent sets the Cuban became the spark plug of the Turkish team.

"We move forward," wrote the Cienfuegos native on Instagram after the triumph in the tiebreak for the Turks, whose final point she secured.

Turkey won in five sets against the powerful Dutch, with a score of 19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 15-13. The push from the Cuban was essential for the Turkish comeback, current European champions.

Turkey's next match will be on August 1st, this time against the Dominican Republic, which will close the qualifying phase against the super favorites of Italy.

Currently Melissa Vargas widely dominates the world ranking in women's volleyball, with more than 500 points, according to the prestigious specialized magazine Volleybox.

According to the report, the Cuban, now representative of the Turkish national team, is at the top of women's volleyball, with a total of 512 points, compared to 487 for Swedish Isabelle Haak and 458 for Italian Paola Egonu.

In 2021 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, granted Vargas the credentials of Turkish nationality in an official ceremony.

Vargas completed her waiting period to play for a national team like Turkey's after leaving the Cuban Federation, which only put obstacles and sanctions on her despite her enormous talent, shown since the children's categories.

The attacker had debuted at just 13 years old in Cuba's national team, where she won the main individual awards in every tournament she participated in.

With her departure, Cuba lost and Turkey gained one of the greatest talents in world volleyball today.