Lausanne, Switzerland, May 29, 2018 - Reigning European champions Russia take on Australia in Sofia, Friday, seeking their second win of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League after finishing the opening week 2-1. Australia are still after their first win of the season, having lost all three of their opening games, and also need to overcome a seemingly impossible head-to-head record of 0-10 against Russia.
Head-to-Head
• Australia have lost all their 10 world level major competition encounters with Russia (including the Soviet Union and CIS), making them the opponents against which they played most matches without a single win in those tournaments.
• World level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Russia have won four of their last five encounters with Australia at world level major competitions in straight sets, with the 3-1 win in the 2010 World Championship as the only exception.
• Australia have won the first set in a world level match against Russia only once. This 3-2 defeat in the 1999 World League was also their only world level match in which Russia needed five sets against them.
Australia
• Australia have won one set this VNL, as they lost 3-1 against Japan, and 3-0 versus Iran and France.
• Australia can lose four successive world level major competition matches for the time since the 2016 World League, when they lost all their nine fixtures.
• Despite having played in only two sets against France, Lincoln Alexander Williams still ended as Australia's top scorer on 10 points.
• Williams also is Australia's overall top scorer on 37 points this VNL. Nahemiah Mote is next on 28 points.
Russia
• All Russia's matches finished in straight sets this VNL: 3-0 wins against Canada and Republic of Korea and 3-0 defeat against Poland.
• The last time Russia played more than three sets in a major competition came in the 2017 World League, when they lost 3-2 against Brazil.
• Russia can win back-to-back straight setters for the first time since the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, when they beat Iran (preliminary round) and Canada (quarterfinals).
• Coming into matchround 4, Dmitriy Muserskiy has the best success percentage on his spikes among all players: 61%.
• Muserskiy also has the highest block average per set (0.89) and the most aces on average per set (0.67) among all players coming into matchround 4.