Lausanne, Switzerland, May 19, 2018 - China, already qualified to the finals of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League as hosts of that event, dropped their last match in a shocking defeat to Korea, so now look to bounce back when they host Poland on Tuesday in Macau. The reigning Olympic champions and world number one lead the series against Poland 16-5 and have not lost to the European side since 2010.
Head-to-Head
• China have won 16 of their previous 21 major world level meetings with Poland.
• The women's world level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup.
• Poland's most recent win against China at world level came in the final for ninth place at the 2010 World Championships (3-0).
• Since that match, China have recorded three successive wins versus Poland, consecutively at the 2011, 2012 and 2013 World Grand Prix.
• Two of Poland's five world level wins against China came on Chinese ground. They recorded two 3-2 victories in Hong Kong, at the 2007 and 2009 World Grand Prix.
China
• China's seven-match winning streak at major world level ended with a 3-0 defeat against Republic of Korea in their last VNL match.
• Before their run of seven wins, China lost successive matches at the 2017 World Grand Prix: 3-1 against Italy (semifinals) and 3-1 versus Serbia (third place decider).
• In their previous seven participations in a major world level tournament, China have only once failed to win a set in consecutive fixtures, also at last year's World Grand Prix: against United States and Italy in the preliminary round.
• Five of China's last six defeats at major world level came against European sides, with the VNL loss against Republic of Korea as the only exception.
• China's last seven major world level defeats all came in front of a home crowd in China.
• Yuan Xinyue was China's top scorer in their last two VNL matches: 15 points against Belgium and 12 versus Republic of Korea.
Poland
• In the first week of the VNL, Poland recorded a 3-1 defeat against United States, a 3-2 win versus Italy and a 3-0 loss to Turkey.
• Poland have not lost successive major world level fixtures since losing their last five matches at the 2014 World Grand Prix.
• Poland will play in China at a major world level tournament for the first time since the 2013 World Grand Prix. Here, they lost to Serbia and China while beating Argentina.
• Only two of Poland's last 16 defeats at major world level came against AVC sides: two losses against Republic of Korea at last year's World Grand Prix.
• Malwina Smarzek led her team in terms of scoring in Poland's first three matches at the VNL: 23 points v United States, 28 v Italy and 14 v Turkey.