Mireya Luis, Cuba's Olympic Outside Hitting High Jumping Superstar
At 5' 10" Cuban Olympian hitter, Mireya Luis was one of the smallest elite outside hitters in the world and led the Cuba women to win 3 Olympic gold medals.
Alejandina Mireya Luis Hernández, often referred to as Mireya was born on February 25, 1967 in Camagüey.
She helped her country and club where she played to win several trophies with her main position as a wing spiker.
Volleyball Player Profile Mireya Luis
At 5' 10" Mireya was one of the smallest elite world class outside hitters in international competition.
She was known for her tremendous jumping ability having 36 inch vertical on a bad day, and on good days jumping closer to 40 inches.
Volleyball Accomplishments
Volleyball Player Profile of an
Olympic Volleyball Player
A member of the first Olympic women's team in history to win three gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games.
- 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona - Gold
- 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta - Gold
- 2000 Olympic Games - Gold
Volleyball Player Profile
Cuban Volleyball Player
World Championship Experience
- 1985 World Championships u20 Most Valuable Player
- 1986 World Championships
- 1985 World Cup - Best Spiker
- 1989 World Cup - Most Valuable Player
- 1989 World Cup - Best Spiker
- 1991 World Cup - Best Scorer
- 1993 World Grand Prix - Best Spiker
- 1994 World Grand Prix - Best Spiker
- 1994 World Championships - Best Spiker
- 1995 World Cup - Best Spiker
- 1995 World Cup - Most Valuable Player
Watch the 1995 World Cup match between Cuba and Japan.
Major International Competition
- 1983 winner of Pan American Games with Cuban National team
- 1986 World Championships - Silver medal with Cuban National team
- 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Championships - Gold Medal with Cuban National team
- 1991 first ever gold medal at the World Cup in Mexico
- 2004 inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame
Volleyball Player Profile
Professional Volleyball Player
Mireya competed professionally in Cuba for a number of years before venturing outside of her country to play in Japan for the top Daiei-Hitachi team before playing in Italy for Bergamo Volley, the same team Francesca Piccinini played for.
Watch as Paula Weishoff and Mireya Luis compete together on the same team in Japan.
- 1994-1995 champion Top Volley International with Camaguey
- 2000 retirement
Five Fun Facts about Mireya
Did you know that Mireya....
Started playing volleyball at the age of 10
Was a starting outside hitter for the Cuban National team at age 15
Luis is known for her spectacular jumping power reaching 3.39 meter 936 inch), more than any other player, though being only 1.75 meter tall. (5' 10")
She earned numerous "best scorer", "best spiker" and "best player" awards at world, Olympic and continental championships.
Mireya helped lead her Cuban National team to a silver medal just weeks after having her baby girl
Volleyball Quotes and Motivational Words
When asked about the Olympic experience
2000 Sydney Olympics: “Many teams had a lot of chances to be champions at that time, we faced the Russians in the finals and we were down by two sets against them,” she recalled. “Everybody thought we would lose but we did not quit. In the end we won the next three sets and the effort was worth a lot.”
Sources
Mireya Luis Volleyball Movies Indoor Tournaments
Volleywood Mireya's Hope for Cuba
Read more about the professional volleyball players in the pages below.
Alex Holston, Left Handed Opposite Volleyball Position Pro Player
Alex Holston is a former Florida Gator standout, a left handed opposite volleyball player who's a pro volleyball player in the Athlete Unlimited Pro League.
Ali Bastianelli Is A Middle Blocker And American Pro Volleyball Player
Ali Bastianelli is a former Fighting Illini All American, All Big Ten middle blocker now a professional volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Pro League.
Bethania De La Cruz, Santa Domingo National Team Pro Volleyball Player
Bethania de la Cruz an Athletes Unlimited volleyball professional, Dominican Republic team member who's played in Japan, Italy, Puerto Rico, Thailand and Turkey
Lauren Stivrins Is A Middle Blocker And American Pro Volleyball Player
Lauren Stivrins is a former Nebraska Husker middle blocker and is an American professional volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Professional League.
Rita Crockett aka The Rocket Outside Hitter An Olympic Silver Medalist
Outside hitter, Rita Crockett nicknamed "Rocket" because of her jumping ability and speed was one of the top outside hitters in the world in the 80's and 90's
Logan Tom Pro Volleyball Player Has Played Professionally Worldwide
Get ready to dive into "the American Nomad's aka Logan Tom early beginnings, her college career, international experience and her impact playing for Team USA
Erin Fairs Is A Left Outside Hitter And American Pro Volleyball Player
Erin Fairs is a former Louisville Cardinal and USF Bulls outside hitter now a professional volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Professional League.
Ebony Nwanebu Is A 3x NCAA Champion Hitter And A Pro Volleyball Player
Ebony Nwanebu is a multi-award-winning opposite who's won every award possible for a prep athlete including winning NCAA championship at two major D-I programs
Aury Cruz Is A 2016 Olympian For Puerto Rico And Pro Volleyball Player
Aury Cruz is a Florida Gator indoor and beach player, 2016 Olympian for Puerto Rico and international pro volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Pro League
Dani Drews Is A Left Handed Hitter And American Pro Volleyball Player
Dani Drews is a former Utah Utes award-winning outside hitter and is an American professional volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Professional League.
Jordan Larson Volleyball Professional and Olympic Gold Medalist
Jordan Larson volleyball professional is an American player and captain of America's first Olympic gold medal winning team is an international volleyball star
Morgan Hentz Is A 3x NCAA Champion Libero And A Pro Volleyball Player
Morgan Hentz is a 3-time NCAA champion libero who played at Stanford and an American professional volleyball player in the Athletes Unlimited Pro League.
Stacy Sykora, First USA Olympic Libero Silver Medalist 3 Time Olympian
Stacy Sykora also known as "Syko" is the first official Olympian to play in the official libero role for America, a three-time Olympian and silver medalist.
Tara Cross Battle A Most Prolific Elite Volleyball Hitter of the 90s
Winner of the Flo Hyman All-Time Great Player award, Tara Cross made her international debut in the 1990 Goodwill Games and played for team USA for many years.
Paula Weishoff 3-time Olympian and Olympic MVP, American Middle Hitter
Paula Weishoff, an unforgettable name in the 80’s and 90’s, 3-time Olympic middle blocker and I were teammates in Italy in the Italian Div I championship finals
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From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Honored At UTK Champions Weekend
Lady Vol volleyball legend and record holder Coach April Chapple a University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hall of Fame Inductee, 3-time All American, 3-time SEC Champion, SEC Tournament MVP, 2-time All SEC Team is celebrated with her 1984 SEC champion teammates at Neyland Stadium during Champions Weekend on November 1-2, 2024.
- the first First Round Draft Pick for the first American pro indoor women's league
- named to the first First Team All-Pro team for Major League Volleyball in USA volleyball history
- former USA National team member
- one of the few American women players named as an Italian Pro League D-I Championship Finalist, Italian Cup Finalist and Cup of Cups Tournament Finalist
April Chapple The first First round Draft Pick For Major League Volleyball the first American Women's Pro League Honored At Athlete Unlimited Pro Volleyball Match
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Serving slang is not just about individual techniques; it also relates to overall game strategy. A coach might instruct a player to serve a "short serve" or a "deep serve" to target specific areas of the opponent's court or exploit weaknesses in their serve receive formation.
Ari, my private training client and I are working specifically on serving on jump float cross court serves ...short to Zone 2
There's so much we work on to get to this point where she can contact the ball with
- the same toss height and same toss location
- the same armswing speed
- the same timing for when her serving hand contacts the ball
- the middle of the hand contacting the middle of the ball every single time
- getting use to watching her serving hand contact the ball at the highest point of her jump ...before she starts to land
- and finally contacting the ball in the precise spot on the ball so it goes where the coach wants the player to put it so in this case ..a short serve in the farthest short right corner on the court also called Zone 2.
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From Lady Vol to Legend: Coach April Produces Powerful Passionate Players...is that you?
Congratulations to my seven Boys-18s Vegas Volley club players who played in two state championship finals yesterday, the 3A and 5A State champinship finals at Sunrise Mountain High School.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!
A-1 Vegas Volley VBC
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May 2 - 4, 2025 Tournament
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18s Premier Division
Making A-1 Vegas Volleyball history as the very first TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! In the In It To Win It Tournament,
May 2-4, 2025 Tournament,
A-1 Vegas Volleyball Club
Gold Medalists, 18s Premier DivisionWhat Are You Looking For?
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