Lausanne, Switzerland, June 9, 2018 - Reigning Olympic champions Brazil take on China Sunday in Ufa, looking to conclude Week 3 of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League by extending their winning streak to seven, for their eighth overall win in the competition. The two sides meet for the 17th time in history, with Brazil leading the series 11-5.
Head-to-Head
• Brazil and China will meet for the 17th time in a world level major competitions, with Brazil winning 11 times and China five.
• World level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• China won the first five world level major encounters against Brazil between 1956 and 1978, but Brazil have won each of their last 11 encounters at world level major tournaments.
• China's last victory over Brazil was a 3-1 victory at the 1978 World Championship.
• Of these last 11 matches in which Brazil emerged victorious, China won multiple sets only twice: 3-2 defeats at the 2005 Grand Champions Cup and at the 2011 World Cup. Six of these 11 matches were straight set wins for Brazil.
China
• China lost in straight sets against Russia on Saturday. It was their second straight-set loss in a row after their match against Iran on Friday.
• China have lost four matches by a 3-0 scoreline in the VNL. They have not lost five matches in straight sets at a single major world level tournament since the 2014 World Championships (5).
• These five 3-0 defeats at the 2014 World Championships were in consecutive matches and is the last longer streak for China without claiming a set at any world level major competition.
• After winning five sets in their opening two VNL fixtures, China have now won only four sets in their last six fixtures: in a 3-1 defeat against Germany and a 3-2 win over France.
• Zhang Jingyin scored a team-high 13 points against Russia, two more than the team's top scorer Jiang Chuan (11).
• Jiang lifted his total tally to 159 to become the first ever player to reach 150 points in the VNL.
Brazil
• Brazil claimed their seventh VNL win after they prevailed in five sets against Iran on Saturday.
• It was the third five-setter for Brazil in the VNL (W2-L1). They have not played more than three in a single major world level tournament since the 2015 World League (5, W2-L3).
• Brazil have won their last six matches at the VNL. They have not won seven matches in a row in major world level competitions since a streak of eight at the 2016 World League.
• Since a straight set defeat against Serbia in the 2016 World League final, Brazil have claimed a least one set in all of their 34 world level major competition matches.