Melissa Vargas

Melissa Vargas
Personal information
Full nameMelissa Teresa Vargas Abreu
NicknameVargas Airlines
Nationality Cuba  Turkey
Born (1999-10-16) 16 October 1999 (age 25)
Cienfuegos, Cuba
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight76 kg (168 lb)
Spike3.26 m (128 in)
Block3.15 m (124 in)
College / UniversityUniversity of Cienfuegos
Volleyball information
PositionWing Spiker / Opposite Spiker
Current clubFenerbahçe Opet
Number4 (national team), 44 (club)
Career
YearsTeams
National team
  • 2012–2017
  • 2023–
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing  Cuba
U23 Pan-American Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Ica Team
Representing  Turkey
FIVB World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tokyo Team
FIVB Nations League
Gold medal – first place 2023 Arlington Team
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2023 Belgium/Italy/Estonia/Germany Team

Melissa Teresa Vargas Abreu (born 16 October 1999 in Cienfuegos, Cuba) is a Cuban-born Turkish volleyball player,[1] who plays for Fenerbahçe Opet and the Turkey women's national volleyball team.[2]

She was a member of the Cuba women's national volleyball team and was part of the national team at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Italy.[3] Since 2023, she has been playing in the Turkey women's national volleyball team.[4]

Personal life

[edit]

Vargas was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba.[5] Her father was a handball player, she began playing volleyball on the street at age six and joined her school's team at age eight.[6] In 2021, she acquired Turkish citizenship.[4]

Career

[edit]

She started training for the Cienfuegos team at the age of 12, also played in the Cuban national youth volleyball teams.

She played for Agel Prostějov in the Czech Republic for one season in 2016. She suffered a shoulder injury and returned to her country for treatment. After she was dissatisfied with the treatment opportunities in his country and criticized them, she was banned from playing in the national team for 4 years between 2017-2021, on the grounds of indiscipline. Then she was transferred to Volero Zürich.

Fenerbahçe Opet (2018-present)

[edit]

On 29 June 2018, she was transferred to Turkey for Fenerbahçe Opet and started her career as a fairy tale.[7]

She played in the Chinese League in the first halves of the Sultans League in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons and returned to Fenerbahçe for the second halves of those seasons.[8][9][10]

On 10 April 2021, the application made by the Turkish Volleyball Federation for Vargas to obtain citizenship of the Republic of Turkey was approved and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented Melissa Vargas with her TR ID Card.[11]

On 9 July 2024, she renewed her contract with Fenerbahçe Opet for 3 years.[12]

International career

[edit]

Cuba

[edit]

Vargas has limited international experience with Cuba, appearing in the 2014 FIVB Women's World Championship, 2015 FIVB Women's World Cup, and in three editions of the FIVB World Grand Prix.[13]

In 2012, after suffering a shoulder injury while playing for Agel Prostějov, Vargas returned to Cuba for treatment.[6] After finding Cuban facilities lacking, she sought treatment elsewhere, at which point the Cuban Federation imposed a four-year ban on Vargas for what they described as "insulting and undisciplined attitudes toward her country."[14]

Turkey

[edit]

After acquiring Turkish citizenship in 2021, Vargas became eligible to represent Turkey in international competition in 2023, after playing for the Turkish volleyball club Fenerbahçe for five seasons. She debuted with the team at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League, where she played in 11 matches and won gold medal with the team. She was named MVP of the competition.[13] At the 2023 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Vargas was once again named MVP after winning gold with Turkey.[15]

Awards

[edit]

Honors

[edit]

Club

[edit]
Czech Republic Agel Prostějov
Switzerland Volero Zürich
China Tianjin Bohai Bank
Turkey Fenerbahçe

International

[edit]
Cuba Cuba
Turkey Turkey

Individual

[edit]

Club

[edit]

International

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Kubanska zvezda dobila srpsko državljanstvo".
  2. ^ Vargas set to join back to Fenerbahçe
  3. ^ "Team Roster – Cuba". italy2014.fivb.org. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Filenin Yeni Sultanı: Melissa Vargas kimdir". En Son Haber (in Turkish). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Melissa Vargas kimdir, kaç yaşında? Melissa Vargas hangi takımlarda oynadı?". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 7 March 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b Demirci, Gül (4 September 2023). "Who is Melissa Vargas? Who is » Expat Guide Turkey". Expat Guide Turkey. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Melissa Vargas Fenerbahçe'de". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 29 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Yuvana hoş geldin Melissa Vargas". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 13 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Yuvana hoş geldin Melissa Vargas". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 15 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Melissa Vargas, yeniden ait olduğu yerde". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 6 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Voleybolcumuz Melissa Vargas Türk vatandaşı oldu". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 10 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Voleybolcularımız Melissa Vargas, Gizem Örge, Aslı Kalaç ve Meliha Diken'le sözleşme uzatıldı". fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). 9 July 2024.
  13. ^ a b volleyballworld.com. "With Vargas and Santarelli, Türkiye start preparations for VNL 2023". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  14. ^ Agencies, Daily Sabah with (4 September 2023). "Melissa Vargas' road from Cuba to Turkish volleyball royalty". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  15. ^ Mikkelsen, Sebastian; Aragón, Andrés (19 September 2023). "Volleyball Women's Paris 2024 Qualifier: How Cuban-born Melissa Vargas propelled Türkiye to instant success". Olympics.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
[edit]
Awards
Preceded by Best Spiker of
U20 Pan-American Cup
2013 		Succeeded by
Not awarded
Preceded by
Not awarded
 Best Opposite Hitter of
U23 Pan-American Cup
2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Outside Hitter of
Pan-American Cup
2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Scorer of
Pan-American Cup
2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Server of
Pan-American Cup
2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of
FIVB Nations League
2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Opposite Hitter of
FIVB Nations League
2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of
European Volleyball Championship
2023 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by Best Opposite Hitter of
European Volleyball Championship
2023 		Succeeded by
TBD
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