Cuban Melissa Vargas takes Turkey to the volleyball semifinals in the Paris Olympics after scoring 42 points.

Cuban volleyball player Melissa Vargas led the Turkish team to its first Olympic semifinal in that sport after spearheading the victory of that selection against China.

The player from Cienfuegos, nationalized Turkish since 2021, managed to score 42 points in the victory of three sets to two against the Asian giant. Of these, 38 were from attacks, two from blocks, and two from serves.

Sports journalist Francys Romero specified on social media that Melissa Vargas's points tally is the second-best record in a single Olympic Games match, surpassed only by the Croatian Bárbara Jelic at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, who scored 44 points.

Romero also added that Vargas has become the first player in history with two games of 30+PTS and one of 40+PTS in summer events.

Currently, the Cuban is the leading scorer in the event, with 116 points, followed by the Chinese athlete Li Yingying (93) and the Serbian Tijana Boskovic (84).

The Cuban-born volleyball player tops the list of the best players in the world, with 512 points, followed by the Swedish Isabelle Haak and the Italian Paola Egonu, with 487 and 458 points, respectively, according to the world ranking of the prestigious volleyball magazine Volleybox.

Previously, in her Olympic debut against the Netherlands, the Cuban had already become the first volleyball player from the island to score 30 points or more in a match at the Olympic Games. Vargas, 24 years old, became the thirteenth volleyball player worldwide to reach that figure in an Olympic match.

Melissa Vargas under another flag

In just six years, Melissa Vargas -who has been living and playing in Turkey since 2018- went from being sanctioned by the Cuban sports federation to being chosen as the best player in the world in 2023.

The young athlete had a fantastic 2023, with victories at the Tianjin club in the Chinese Super League and at Fenerbahçe in the Turkish League. Additionally, she won a gold medal and the MVP award in the Nations League, and achieved the same results in the European Championship, both times with Turkey.

Now the national team, which is attending the Olympics for the third time, hopes that the Cuban can finally bring them to the podium.

Vargas debuted with the Cuba team at just 13 years old, in 2013. In 2014, she was chosen as the standout player of the Central American and Caribbean Games.

At just 15 years old, the player received permission to play with the Czech Republic team, VK Prostejov.

In 2016, she was sanctioned by the Cuban authorities after suffering a shoulder injury that forced her to undergo surgery. Her parents disagreed with the recovery plan proposed by the Federation at the National Volleyball School and took her back to Cienfuegos. Then the sports authorities demoted her, which prevented her from competing in international tournaments.

Subsequently, the Cuban received another sanction from the Cuban Volleyball Federation, which imposed a four-year ban on competing after signing with the Swiss club Volero behind the backs of the Cuban authorities.