The Return of the Spectacular Caribbean Mulatto Girls

When the Cuban women's volleyball team defeated Brazil 3-2 in the final of the recent Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, they revived the belief of their fans who dream of their return to glory that they had a decade when they were known as the "Spectacular Caribbean Mulatto Girls."

When the team finally came together, the Cuban girls showed what they were capable of for the first time in 1978 when they won the World Championship in what is today known as Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Lead by trainer Eugenio George, the Cubans ended the long time rule of the Japanese team, known until then as the "Magical Girls from the Orient," but they were stopped right there. Players like Mercedes Pérez, Mercedes Pomares, Lucilla Urgellés, Nelly Barnet, Ana María García, and Imilsis Téllez could not climb the podium at the Olympics in Moscow and left a gap that another generation of players would have to close later on.

Cuba was absent at the Olympic Games of Los Angeles 84 and Seoul 88 but returned to Barcelona 92 with a team full of talent and a fierce desire to win