Cuban Melissa Vargas turns into scoring machine

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, June 19, 2014 – Teenage Cuban sensation Melissa Vargas, who turns 15 next October, secured the scoring title of the XIII Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup after recording her third 24-point performance of the competition in the victory of Cuba over Canada on Thursday.

Vargas, an opposite player of Cuba’s Women National Team, brought her tournament total to 134 points, the second highest mark in the history of the intercontinental event, trailing only Puerto Rican Aury Cruz, who recorded 151 in the 2009 edition.

Melissa, who stands at 184 centimeters, is probably the youngest ever scoring champion of a senior women’s volleyball major tournament.

The native of Cienfuegos, a southern province to the center of the island in Cuba, had a slow start in the competition scoring 16 and 13 points in her first two matches against Mexico and Dominican Republic, respectively. 

Then she got red-hot and missed the 20-point barrier only in the quarterfinals loss to Argentina, when was limited to 13 points.

Vargas is the eighth player (nine times) to amass more than 120 points in a single Pan American Cup.

The members of the exclusive club are:

Aury Cruz, Puerto Rico, 151, Melissa Vargas, Cuba, 134, Kristin Richards, United States, 128, Bethania De la Cruz, Dominican Republic, 126, Cruz, 125, Desiree Glod, Venezuela, 125, Karina Ocasio, Puerto Rico, 122, Nancy Metcalf, United States, 121 and Wilma Salas, Cuba, 121.