Katowice, Poland, June 1, 2019 – Brazil and Poland are seeking to record their second straight win on the first week of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League, where they will be facing Australia and the United States, respectively, on Saturday.
Brazil – Australia (June 1, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Brazil have won all their 11 matches against Australia in world level major competitions.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, FIVB Volleyball Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Australia are one of four opponents Brazil have faced at least 11 times in world level major competitions without losing, alongside Venezuela (15), Greece (15) and Egypt (12).
• Only against Russia (12) have Australia played more world level major tournament matches without ever winning than against Brazil (11).
• Brazil have won eight of their 11 matches against Australia in straight sets, including each of the last three: 2015 World League, 2018 Nations League and 2018 World Championship.
Brazil
• Brazil started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with a 3-0 win over United States in a match between the numbers 1 and 2 in the FIVB World Ranking.
• Last year, Brazil won eight of their first nine VNL matches, with the only exception in that run a 3-2 defeat against Italy in their second fixture.
• Wallace De Souza finished as the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League overall top scorer on 277 points. He scored 12 points against United States on Friday.
• Ricardo Lucarelli Souza scored a match-high 14 points in Brazil's straight-set victory over USA, all from spikes (14 from 24 attempts).
• Isac Santos had three stuff blocks from five attempts against United States (60% success rate). In the 2018 VNL preliminary round, he had 14 stuff blocks from 107 total attempts (13% success rate).
Australia
• Australia lost their opener 3-1 against Poland on Friday. In 2018, Australia started their VNL campaign with four successive defeats.
• Australia have now lost four consecutive VNL matches and could lose five in a row for the first time in the competition.
• Lincoln Alexander Williams scored 16 points against Poland, at least six more than any other teammate. At the 2018 VNL, Williams Scored 81 total points in the competition.
• Thirteen of Australia's 14 players made an appearance against Poland, with Nehemiah Mote as the only exception.
United States – Poland (June 1, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• This encounter is a replay of the 2018 World Championship semi-final. Poland prevailed in five sets en route to their second world title in a row.
• These teams have met 38 times in world level major tournaments, with both teams winning 19 times.
• World level major tournaments are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• In last year's Nations League, United States beat Poland in straight sets in both the preliminary round and the final round.
• These teams met in the 2012 World League final, with Poland winning in straight sets. It was Poland's first major title since 1976 (Olympic Games).
United States
• United States started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with a 3-0 loss against Brazil in a repeat of last year's third-place decider. At the 2018 VNL, they opened their campaign with five straight victories.
• United States could lose back-to-back VNL matches for the fourth time. They have never had a longer losing streak in the competition.
• The last time United States lost their opening two matches of a world level major tournament was at the 2017 World League, when they lost their first three fixtures.
• Mitchell Stahl (9 points) was United States's only player with at least one point from attacks (5), blocks (3) and serves (1) in their opener against Brazil.
• Torey Defalco scored 13 points versus Brazil, at least two more than any other teammate. Taylor Sander scored 11 points.
• Defalco (2) was to only player to score multiple points from serves in USA's opener versus Brazil.
Poland
• Reigning world champions Poland opened their 2019 Volleyball Nations League with a 3-1 win over Australia on Friday.
• Poland could now record successive VNL wins for the first time since a three-match winning streak in the third weekend of the 2018 edition.
• Poland won eight of their first nine matches at the 2018 VNL, including each of their first five. They suffered their first loss in the competition in their sixth fixture, 3-1 against Germany.
• Dawid Konarski scored a match-high 22 points in Poland's opening win against Australia. Mateusz Bieniek followed with 16 points. Konarski scored 51 total points at the 2018 VNL.
• Poland recorded a total of nine serve winners in their match against Australia, including three from top scorer Konarski.