The Volleyball League of Nations (VLN) kicked off last week in Antalya, Turkey and Nagoya, Japan, where the first matches of the women’s team were held among the 16 squads that qualified for the fifth edition of the tournament.
Although Cuba does not participate in the fight, there is representation of the island in the strongest annual tournament of teams on the planet. The young woman from Cienfuegos Melissa Vargas, who obtained Turkish nationality two years ago, made her debut with the colors of that nation on May 31 and since then she has not ceased to impress.
Melissa was the absolute leader of the Turkish squad in the first week of the VLN, in which they finished with a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. Those led by the Italian coach Daniele Santarelli started with a comfortable victory 3-0 (25-14, 25-17 and 26-24) over South Korea and then prevailed 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 25- 15 and 25-21) to Serbia, current world champions.
The Cuban established herself as the main offensive figure of her squad in these challenges, in which she scored 15 and 21 cards, in that order. Against the South Koreans, Vargas billed 13 units in attack, one in blocking and another with his service, while he punished the Serbs with three acesa point in the defense of the net and 17 with his powerful shots.
As if that were not enough, Melissa returned to the charge against Italy, bronze of the last World Cup, and scored 22 points in the victory by sweep (25-19, 26-24 and 25-19) of the Turkish team. The southerner stole the show at the Antalya Sports Hall in front of some 10,000 fans who packed the venue, especially due to the strength of her back-row attacks.
Turkey’s last match in the first week of the VLN was against the powerful United States, who prevailed in a close five-setter comeback battle after losing the first two sets 25-22. The norteñas recovered and silenced the local fans with consecutive victories of 22-25, 11-25 and 9-15.
Despite the defeat, Melissa showed her weapons again and got 25 units, 21 in attack, one in blocking and three in service. In total, the Cuban scored 83 points in the four initial dates of the VLN and ranks second among the top scorers of the match, tied with the Dominican Brayelín Martínez and behind the Chinese Yingying Li (87).
Turkey, which has placed in the top four of the VLN in each of its previous four editions, is hoping to take a leap in quality this year, surpassing the silver and bronze they won in 2018 and 2021, respectively. The addition of Melissa Vargas is a fundamental step in the aspirations of the Eurasian squad, which also now has the services of the talented coach Daniele Santarelli.
World champion in front of Serbia in 2022, bronze medalist with the Balkan nation itself in last year’s VLN, and twice subtitle in the European League with Croatia, Santarelli is one of the most recognized coaches on the planet. In addition to his record at the national team level, the Italian has won everything with Imoco Volley Conegliano, champion of the last five editions of the A1 Series.
