The most surprising thing about Mireya Luis was the sense that she had been around for so long...

Even though the first time I saw her play was at the '86 World Championships in Czechoslovakia, I only recently saw an old tape of both 1985 Gala Matches, where she was the go-to hitter of the All-Star team, pounding balls at will. If we count how many important tournaments she's participated in since she entered the Cuban Adult National Team at age 15, we have the '86, '90, '94, and '98 World's, and the '92 and '96 Olympics. Because of her country's boycotts, she missed out on two Olympics, but regained her lost time with two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 1990s. Imagine how much more adorned this page would be had Fidel been less pig-headed with his geopolitical ambitions!!

Mireya—as we will call her from now on—is one of those players who, like Lang Ping, was gifted with physical power. Both of them could jump higher than anybody else in their time. But Mireya made it look so spectacular (see images of her jumping), that at times one wondered if it was physically possible for ANYBODY to roof-block her.

Like a panther, she would take a crescent-moon approach, get down low and then with the help of her long and muscular arms, propulse herself by lifting them upwards 3/4 of the way around; then she would stay in mid-air for what seemed an eternity, and catch the ball right in front of her head, sending it rocketing down. Though she would only hit from position 4 (with very rare back row attacks from position 5), her attacks were unstoppable. Oftentimes the Cuban setters would set her these ridiculously high skyballs that went so far up that their trajectory would disappear completely from the TV screen for a couple of seconds. One would see her leaping beautifully and the ball would descend from out of nowhere precisely to where her arm was waiting for the hit. It was almost an acrobatic act, a trademark move, like the slice-backhand from Steffi Graf, or a Michael Jordan dunk.

In 1985, the FIVB-organised Gala Matches joined her and fellow teammate Josefina Capote in an All-Star Team with incredible Japanese setter Kumi Nakada, Soviets Chebukina and Katchalova, USAmerican Rose Magers, among others to play against the '84 Olympic Champion, China. At times Nakada wanted to run an intricate offence but it was too fast for the likes of the more physical players like Mireya and Chebukina. Eventually the swift Japanese setter opted for a more conservative game of higher balls to the outside with occasional shoots to the middle. I guess that setting those skyballs to Mireya made Nakada feel what it was like to be in a team with Mireya, for generally every ball set her way was an automatic kill. Certain segments of the two-match series between the All Stars and the Chinese revealed how Nakada and Mireya connected so well, as players and as friends. To what extent this was true, I don't know, but it seemed to be a pleasant experience for both of them—which is the purpose of having these All-Star Teams in the first place: to join usual opponents in a team where they can experience playing together and bond beyond the limitations of language.

One year later at the '86 World Championships, Mireya was two-weeks out of giving birth to her daughter, Idanaysi, but that didn't impede her from quickly regaining her physical condition and defending her national colours. Her team's run to the final was spectacular, and Mireya had good company in Lázara González, Norka Latamblet, Josefina Capote, María Santa María, Nancy González, Josefina O'Farrill, among others. But guess who was opposite the net to stop Mireya's quest for victory once again? Lang Ping. Except she wasn't playing, she and former teammate Zhang Rongfang were coaching!! This dynamic duo did a magnificent job and China won the world title in four sets over Mireya and her team.

Due to Cuba's solidarity with North Korea, Mireya didn't play in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 because of a boycott that Fidel felt was stronger than international gamesmanship and the personal fulfillment of his country's athletes. A year after Seoul, she participated in the '89 Japan World Cup and took her team to a first-place victory over the Soviet Union. But the next year at the World Championships in China, her team missed the podium by a handful of points. Maybe it was the transition that Cuba was going through incorporating new players from their '89 Junior World Vice-Champions—Magaly Carvajal and Regla Bell—but Cuba came in fourth place after losing the bronze medal to a surprising Team USA. Since that defeat, however, Cuba didn't fall in an Olympic or World Championship semifinal or final until the 2004 Athens Olympics!!

Cuba began the '90s decade with dazzle and pomp, overpowering every single one of its opponents and managing to stay at the top for most of the major international competitions that they participated in. Mireya deserves a lot of the credit, along with Cuban coaches Eugenio George and Antonio Perdomo. At the '91 Japan World Cup, they outclassed both the USSR and China to win the tournament. Cuba entered the Barcelona Olympics as heavy favourites and didn't disappoint at all, knocking down world powers China and Brazil in pool play, and a strong USA team in the semis. The final against the former Soviet squad (re-named "the Unified Team" because of the recent breakup of the USSR) was not a very exciting match, though Mireya unleashed kill after kill down the line, cross-court, stinging her opponents from every angle. She was the talk of the town after that, for even though the international volleyball community knew her well, Barcelona provided the stage for her to be observed and admired in all her spectacle. Mireya truly was a display of athleticism and power.

Things only got better for her after 1992. Cuba won the first edition of the Women's Grand Prix in '93 against a weak Chinese team. Then in '94 Mireya gained a stadium-full of rabid anti-fans when Cuba downed host Brazil in the final of the World Championships. Cuba went into the final without losing a single set, and maintained their undefeated record by defeating a spirited but nervous Brazilian squad 3-0. To add insult to injury, the Cubans began provoking their opponents by screaming and yelling after every kill, every roof-block (in the first set alone Magaly Carvajal had about 6 stuff blocks), and creating a hostile feeling for what is still a non-contact sport. To a certain degree Mireya's feeling of invincibility began this show of arrogance, which the Brazilians responded in due with their own snapping insults. In the third game of the match, the referee called captains Mireya and Ana Flávia and asked them both to prevent the match from going off in the wrong direction. The thousands of Brazilian fans were furious, even harassing the Cuban players by throwing objects at them (Brazilian fans have been known to do that). In the end, Cuba's volleyball was too much for Brazil to handle and Mireya pounded mercilessly on the outside, leaving nothing for the Brazilian defence to pick up.

Cuba's glory continued after that, though not without several mishaps scattered throughout the years. The second Grand Prix that was held in China wasn't won by Cuba, but by their arch-rivals from Brazil. Some say that Cuba lost because Mireya didn't play in the final round (Idalmis Gato substituted her). The year after that, Cuba with Mireya had to settler for third place at the Grand Prix (which was surprisingly won by the USA) but then Mireya came back in '95 to lead Cuba to another first place at the World Cup, thus qualifying for the '96 Olympics. Mireya was avid and ready to take Atlanta by storm.

Atlanta proved bumpier than she thought. Cuba lost two matches in pool play to Russia and Brazil, despite Mireya's usual offensive efficiency. Many people thought that Atlanta would see a new Olympic champion, but the road to redemption put the host team as Cuba's first obstacle in the quarterfinals (something the USAmericans had dreaded before the tournament even started). Cuba, in an absolutely overpowering performance, blanked the USA 15-1 in the first game and never really lost momentum in the match. As had become the norm when playing Cuba, the USA players reacted to the Cuban provocations with much the same disdain as was being shown them. It really became a tough situation to emerge from with their heads held high because the usually contact-free sport of volleyball had turned into something of an invisible fistfight. At one point of the match, Cuban rookie Raisa O'Farrill roofed USA's Caren Kemner and immediately gave her a condescending "eat that, bitch" type of yelp complete with pumped fist, if not some things that would surely get you expelled from Wimbledon for life. Kemner then retaliated with some attitude of her own, which is how the escalation got out of hand. Mireya stepped in to calm things down by telling her young teammate to show some respect to a good player such as Kemner. The Cubans behaved a bit better and then dispatched the USA into an unfortunate downward spiral. With that victory, Cuba was scheduled for a meeting with Brazil in the semis. The story only got worse.

From near disaster in pool play, Cuba had risen and snowballed into the semifinal against their '90s rivals, the Brazilians. I could sense such a hostile climate in the match that it was almost painful to watch. I don't understand how the referee let things go the way they did. On match point, setter Marlenys Costa set Mireya, who pounded the ball so hard through the block of Ana Paula and Fernanda that it would've hit Márcia in the face had she not protected it with her hands. The ball bounced down from Márcia's arms onto the floor in a millisecond. Immediately, most of the Cuban team was at the net, led by Mireya, yelling and shaking their fists at the defeated Brazilians like a horde of frenzied demons. Such unsportsmansly conduct from the Cubans was shameful considering that Mireya, with all her experience and maturity, did not do anything to prevent things from escalating even further. Brazilian hitter Ana Moser boldly went up to where the screaming Cubans were whilst her team was departing the court in defeat. Upon seeing that Ana Moser was up there alone before a pack of howling Cubans, they all returned and stood beside her. Ana Moser was yelling, "Respeto! Respeto!" to Mireya, indicating that even in victory, the most powerful attacker in the world needed to set the example for her teammates and show some respect for their opponents. But the Cubans were relentless; they didn't care, they had won the match and were en route to the Olympic final.

Mireya went on to lead Cuba to the gold by winning 3-1 over a very gutsy but less experienced Chinese team. Mireya's second Olympic experience ended favourably for her, even though her conduct and attitude left a lot to be desired from an athlete of her caliber. Brazil got revenge right after the Olympics by defeating Mireya and her teammates at the '96 Grand Prix. This time, the FIVB got strict and suspended four troublesome players, Bell and Torres from Cuba, and Ana Paula and Filo from Brazil, warning all teams that it would not condone any more misbehaviour. Cuba then took 1997 lightly, maybe to cool down from the controversies or maybe because differences began to appear within the Cuban squad over the rights of players to earn money playing abroad. In any event, Eugenio George resigned and Antonio Perdomo took over the coaching job. Mireya's years were weighing down on her, but she still returned to the Cuban team when called upon for the '98 World Championships in Japan. At first she began as a substitute, but Perdomo inserted her to fire things up with her offence and tilt the things their way.

Fortunately for Mireya, her team was now composed of young, very talented players with new knees to spare whom Mireya helped mature and improve. Cuba in 1998 with or without Mireya was invincible once again. The addition of Regla Torres and Ana Ibis Fernández in the middle was lethal to their opponents. Their offence still maintained their traditional 6-2 (hitters-setters) formation, with outstanding setter/hitter Taymaris Agüero doing marvels and Yumilka Ruiz stepping in for Mireya's outside attack. Once again, and just like Atlanta, Brazil-Cuba and China-Russia were in the semis. For the Brazil-Cuba match, coach Perdomo injected Mireya's energy and authority on the court at crucial moments. This time, however, both teams behaved pretty well, with only some bouts of subtle hostile attitude, but very discrete. Cuba had the last word in this duel, defeating Brazil 3-1 despite an absolutely astounding performance by Brazilian Ana Moser. Though I didn't see the final, I read that Cuba won in three hard sets over China. Whether or not Mireya played, I don't know, but it seemed like an easier victory for the Caribbean team than they had expected.

The decade drew to a close and without doubt, Mireya Luis has been the most powerful, influential, and spectacular player of the 1990s. She became to the '90s what Lang Ping was to the '80s, the go-to player, the emotional leader of her team, the final authority on how and where to place that ball on her opponents' court. And like I said at the beginning, it seems all the more amazing that there was but a glimpse of time when Mireya and Lang Ping battled it out on the same court. In the post-Lang Ping era, Mireya received the baton and carried it to the doors of the new millennium. For better or for worse, no single player has taken it and run away with it. Are there no more Mireyas and Lang Pings in the world? Is international volleyball now so balanced that no one player stands out like these two legends did in their time? If so, then the legend of Mireya drew to a close after telling one of the most spectacular and successful stories in the history of this sport.