Melissa Vargas

{{Infobox volleyball biography

| name = Melissa Vargas

| image = Melissa Vargas, 2025.jpg

| caption =

| fullname = Melissa Teresa Vargas Abreu

| nickname = Vargas Airlines

| nationality = {{TUR}} {{CUB}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|10|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cienfuegos, Cuba

| height = 1.93 m

| weight = 76 kg

| spike = 3.26 m

| block = 3.15 m

| college =University of Cienfuegos

| currentclub = Fenerbahçe Opet

| position = Wing Spiker / Opposite Spiker

| currentnumber = 4 (national team), 44 (club)

| years = {{unbulleted list| 2011–2015 | 2015–2016 | 2017–2018 | 2018– | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 }}

| teams = {{unbulleted list| {{flagicon|CUB}} Cienfuegos | {{flagicon|CZE}} Agel Prostějov | {{flagicon|SUI}} Volero Zürich | {{flagicon|TUR}} Fenerbahçe Opet | → {{flagicon|CHN}} Tianjin Bohai Bank | → {{flagicon|CHN}} Tianjin Bohai Bank | → {{flagicon|CHN}} Tianjin Bohai Bank }}

| nationalyears = {{unbulleted list|2012–2017|2023–}}

| nationalteam = {{unbulleted list|{{flagicon|Cuba}} Cuba|{{flagicon|TUR}} Turkey}}

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{CUB}}}}

{{MedalCountry|{{TUR}}}}

}}

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

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. Since 2023, she has been playing in the Turkey women's national volleyball team.

Personal life

Vargas was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba. 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.{{Cite web |last=Demirci |first=Gül |date=4 September 2023 |title=Who is Melissa Vargas? Who is » Expat Guide Turkey |url=https://expatguideturkey.com/who-is-melissa-vargas-how-old-is-melissa-vargas-turkey-national-team-womens-volleyball-player/ |access-date=24 June 2024 |website=Expat Guide Turkey |language=en-US}} In 2021, she acquired Turkish citizenship.

Career

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 her 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) =

On 29 June 2018, she was transferred to Turkey for Fenerbahçe Opet and started her career as a fairy tale.{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/arsiv/melissa-vargas-fenerbahce-rsquo-de | title=Melissa Vargas Fenerbahçe'de | date=29 June 2018 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}

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.{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/voleybol-kadin/2022/1/yuvana-hos-geldin-melissa-vargas | title=Yuvana hoş geldin Melissa Vargas | date=13 January 2022 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/voleybol-kadin/2023/1/yuvana-hos-geldin-melissa-vargas | title=Yuvana hoş geldin Melissa Vargas | date=15 January 2023 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/voleybol-kadin/2024/2/melissa-vargas-yeniden-ait-oldugu-yerde | title=Melissa Vargas, yeniden ait olduğu yerde | date=6 February 2024 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}

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.{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/voleybol-kadin/2021/4/voleybolcumuz-melissa-vargas-turk-vatandasi-oldu | title=Voleybolcumuz Melissa Vargas Türk vatandaşı oldu | date=10 April 2021 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}

On 9 July 2024, she renewed her contract with Fenerbahçe Opet for 3 years.{{Cite web | url=https://www.fenerbahce.org/haberler/voleybol-kadin/2024/7/voleybolcularimiz-melissa-vargas-gizem-orge-asli-kalac-ve-meliha-diken-le-sozlesme-uzatildi | title=Voleybolcularımız Melissa Vargas, Gizem Örge, Aslı Kalaç ve Meliha Diken'le sözleşme uzatıldı | date=9 July 2024 | website=fenerbahce.org | language=tr}}

International career

= Cuba =

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.{{Cite web |last=volleyballworld.com |title=With Vargas and Santarelli, Türkiye start preparations for VNL 2023 |url=https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/with-vargas-and-santarelli-turkiye-start-preparations-for-vnl-2023 |access-date=24 June 2024 |website=volleyballworld.com}}

In 2016, after suffering a shoulder injury while playing for Agel Prostějov, Vargas returned to Cuba for treatment. 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."{{Cite web |last=Agencies |first=Daily Sabah with |date=4 September 2023 |title=Melissa Vargas' road from Cuba to Turkish volleyball royalty |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/sports/melissa-vargas-road-from-cuba-to-turkish-volleyball-royalty/news |access-date=24 June 2024 |website=Daily Sabah}}

= Turkey =

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. At the 2023 Women's European Volleyball Championship, Vargas was once again named MVP after winning gold with Turkey.{{Cite web |last1=Mikkelsen |first1=Sebastian |last2=Aragón |first2=Andrés |date=19 September 2023 |title=Volleyball Women's Paris 2024 Qualifier: How Cuban-born Melissa Vargas propelled Türkiye to instant success |url=https://olympics.com/en/news/volleyball-women-melissa-vargas-turkish-star-cuban-origins |access-date=24 June 2024 |website=Olympics.com}}

Awards

= Honors =

== Club ==

; {{flagicon|CZE}} Agel Prostějov

Czech Volleyball Extraliga: {{gold1}} 2015–16
Czech Cup: {{gold1}} 2015–16

; {{flagicon|SUI}} Volero Zürich

Swiss Volleyball League A: {{gold1}} 2017–18
Swiss Cup: {{gold1}} 2017–18

; {{flagicon|CHN}} Tianjin Bohai Bank

FIVB Club World Championship: {{bronze3}} 2023
Chinese Volleyball Super League: {{gold1}} 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
National Games of China: {{gold1}} 2021

; {{flagicon|TUR}} Fenerbahçe

FIVB Club World Championship: {{bronze3}} 2021
CEV Champions League: {{bronze3}} 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Turkish Volleyball Sultanlar Ligi: {{gold1}} 2022–23, 2023–24 {{silver2}} 2020–21, 2021–22 {{bronze3}} 2018–19
Turkish Cup: {{gold1}} 2023–24, 2024–25 {{silver2}} 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
Turkish Super Cup: {{gold1}} 2022, 2024 {{silver2}} 2023

== International ==

; {{flagicon|CUB}} Cuba

U23 Pan-American Cup: {{bronze3}} 2014

; {{flagicon|TUR}} Turkey

FIVB Volleyball World Cup: {{gold1}} 2023
FIVB Volleyball Nations League: {{gold1}} 2023
European Volleyball Championship: {{gold1}} 2023

= Individual =

2023 Turkish Athlete of the Year{{cite news |title=70. Gillette Milliyet Yılın Sporcusu ödülleri sahiplerini buldu! |url=https://www.milliyet.com.tr/skorer/70-gillette-milliyet-yilin-sporcusu-odulleri-sahiplerini-buldu-7124621 |access-date=13 November 2024 |work=Milliyet |date=10 May 2024 |language=tr}}

== Club ==

== International ==

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web |title=Kubanska zvezda dobila srpsko državljanstvo |url=https://www.mozzartsport.com/ostali%20sportovi/vesti/bomba-u-odbojci-kubanska-zvezda-dobila-srpsko-drzavljanstvo/366637}}

[https://www.voleybolplus.com/melisa-vargas-yeniden-fenerbahce-opette/ Vargas set to join back to Fenerbahçe]

{{cite web |title=Team Roster – Cuba |url=http://italy2014.fivb.org/en/competition/teams/CUB-Cuba/team_roster |work=italy2014.fivb.org |date= |accessdate=1 October 2014}}

{{cite news |url=https://www.ensonhaber.com/biyografi/filenin-yeni-sultani-melissa-vargas-kimdir |newspaper=En Son Haber |title=Filenin Yeni Sultanı: Melissa Vargas kimdir |date=1 June 2023 |language=tr |accessdate=4 June 2023}}

{{cite news |url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/spor/melissa-vargas-kimdir-kac-yasinda-melissa-vargas-hangi-takimlarda-oynadi-2058692 |newspaper=Cumhuriyet |title=Melissa Vargas kimdir, kaç yaşında? Melissa Vargas hangi takımlarda oynadı? |date=7 March 2023 |language=tr |accessdate=4 June 2023}}

}}

External links

{{Sports links}}
[https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/melissa-teresa-vargas_1888813 Melissa Teresa Vargas] at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
{{Olimpedya|1014/melissa-vargas}}
{{TMOK|melissa-vargas/41707}}

{{Succession box

| before = {{flagicon|PER}} Daniela Uribe

| after = Not awarded

| title = Best Spiker of
U20 Pan-American Cup

| years = 2013

}}

{{Succession box

| before = Not awarded

| after = {{flagicon|ARG}} Daniela Bulaich

| title = Best Opposite Hitter of
U23 Pan-American Cup

| years = 2014

}}