Kortrijk, Belgium, June 3, 2019 – Serbia will have a rematch with Poland in Kortrijk, while Belgium will be utilising home court advantage to earn their fourth win in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Serbia – Poland (June 4, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• On 23 May 2018, Serbia came from behind to beat Poland 3-1 in Macau, in these nations' only previous FIVB Volleyball Nations League meeting. Poland's Malwina Smarzek scored 21 points, at least three more than any other player on the court.
• Serbia have won three of their last four matches against Poland in world level major competitions (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup), with the only exception in that run a five-set defeat at the 2012 World Grand Prix.
• Both of Poland's two world level wins against Serbia came in five sets - at the 2007 World Cup and the 2012 World Grand Prix.
Serbia
• Serbia have a W3-L3 record after six matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
• Serbia's three defeats are as many as they recorded in the entire round robin phase in the 2018 VNL. Including the final round, Serbia lost five matches in total at last year's VNL.
• Serbia could become the first reigning World Champions to lose at least four matches at the first world level tournament following the World Championship since Russia lost five matches at the 2011 World Grand Prix.
• Ana Bjelica is Serbia's top scorer in the 2019 VNL on 70 points.
• Teodora Pusic is the third-best digger on an average of 2.36 per set.
Poland
• Poland are on a five-match winning streak in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League and they can equal their longest winning run from last year's VNL - six wins in a row.
• Poland have won 11 of their last 13 matches in the VNL. Only Italy (12) have won more matches in the same 13 matchrounds (round robin phase only).
• Malwina Smarzek leads all players in this year's VNL on 172 points, including 151 points from spikes.
• Agnieszka Kakolewska has scored 24 points from stuff blocks, most of all players in the 2019 VNL.
Belgium – Russia (June 4, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• These teams will meet for the second time at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League. Last year, Russia beat Belgium 3-1 in Kraljevo, Serbia, on 31 May 2018. Irina Voronkova scored a match-high 26 points for Russia.
• Russia won four of their previous five meetings with Belgium in world level major competitions (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup), with the only exception a straight-set defeat at the 2015 World Grand Prix.
• Three of Russia's four wins over Belgium at world level came in straight sets. Belgium only avoided a 3-0 defeat in last year's VNL meeting (3-1).
Belgium
• Belgium have won three matches and lost three in this year's Volleyball Nations League.
• Belgium can already equal their total wins from the 2018 VNL, when they won four matches. The only world level tournament in which they won more than four matches was the 2014 World Grand Prix - eight victories.
• Britt Herbots is Belgium's top scorer in the 2019 VNL on 90 points.
• Marlies Janssens has recorded 13 aces and her average of 0.62 per set is the best in this year's VNL.
Russia
• Russia have lost four matches in a row in the 2019 VNL, of which three were in straight sets.
• Russia could lose five successive matches at world level for the first time since the last two matches at the 2016 Olympic Games and first three fixtures at the 2017 World Grand Prix.
• Russia have lost three matches in straight sets in the 2019 VNL. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the only world level tournaments in which Russia lost more matches by a 3-0 scoreline were the 2018 VNL (6) and the 2015 World Grand Prix (4).
• Margarita Kurilo is Russia's top scorer in the 2019 VNL on 96 points. Kurilo is also the second best receiver in this year's tournament at a 35.2% efficiency.
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FIVB.com - Volleyball Nations League
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