Magaly Carvajal (CUB)
An impenetrable wall of Cuban proportions

Magaly Carvajal excelled without doubt, as an exceptional blocker and hitter, if not one of THE best blockers ever to play the game. Her performances have shown it, among them, her stellar semifinal match in Barcelona against the USA, when she outblocked everyone on the court and sent outside hitter Caren Kemner into a state of teary disbelief for hours after the match. Dejected and overly-critical of herself, Kemner had one thing to say about Carvajal's performance:

"I have never seen so many arms in a block in my life."

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

The first time I saw Magaly play was at the '86 World Championship final against China. Though she was still very young, she slammed some balls down with her hitting that raised several eyebrows, and eventually she ended up playing more time in the final against China than Mireya Luis! In that match, Magaly hit balls from the middle, the outside, and also from position 2, which is the most I've ever seen her hit in terms of variety. I don't know exactly how young Carvajal was at the time of the match, but she did manage to make the Cuban junior team that went to the Junior World's in Peru 1989 which means that Magaly was probably 17 when she played the final in Prague!! The final of the '89 Junior World's went 5 sets against Brazil, the defending Junior World Champion, and Cuba ended up losing to a Brazilian team that included Márcia, Fernanda, Ana Flávia, and Filo. Despite the loss, Magaly was chosen MVP of the tournament. Had her team been powered with more than just her and Regla Bell, they probably would've won. But Brazil's talent was better distributed among the players, and in the end Carvajal had to be content with second place. Interesting enough, the rest of her career seems to indicate that she never forgot that bittersweet moment. When she became an integral part of the Cuban Adult National Team in the late '80s, she met her Brazilian rivals from the Junior leagues again and I guess this infused her with a desire for revenge.

Carvajal got better and better as the years passed: in Barcelona she put up a wall that even the Soviet/Unified Team found it hard to get through (that says a lot). Her revenge from the '89 loss to Brazil came at the '94 World's final in São Paulo. In the first set alone she roofed-blocked (and I mean literally ROOFED) Hilma, Márcia, and Ana Moser several times. She even blocked several back row hits, to demonstrate how confident she was in this skill! What was really amazing was watching her particular style of blocking in the instant replay: while suspended in mid-air, she would reach her arms way over and into the other side of the net, then when the ball touched her hands she would curve her wrists down, sending the ball straight to the floor. It was truly her best skill.

But she was also very consistent hitting, as she demonstrated in the Atlanta finals against China. Since the Chinese offence is a fast one, she didn't make as many points blocking as she did hitting. Against shorter teams, the Cuban setters would set her looped medium-balls in the middle which Magaly would easily hit over or between the block. Fortunately for Cuba, Magaly Carvajal's style and efficiency at the net has been passed on to other middle-blockers, such as Regla Torres and Ana Ibis Fernández. In that way, it seems that Carvajal's style has remained a legacy with the Cuban players.

Last I heard of this talented player was that she defected from Cuba and the national team and set up residency in Spain, where she plays in the Spanish League and has contributed to the influx of foreign players into that country's domestic league. Now even Regla Bell has switched from the Italian to the Spanish league and many more players have followed suit. Magaly became a Spanish citizen and must be doing really well with her life, I assume.