Lausanne, Switzerland, June 13, 2018 - Russia and Poland go head-to-head at world level for the 16th time in history, Wednesday in Walbrzych, with the hosts having beaten Russia only once in the prvious 15 attempts. That was at the 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix, though Poland have beaten Russia at European level in all their last three encounters and are now on a five-match winning streak at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Head-to-Head
• Russia (including the Soviet Union and CIS) have won 14 of their previous 15 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 sole win against Russia at major world level came in straight sets at the 2007 World Grand Prix.
• Their most recent major world level meeting came at the 2013 World Grand Prix where Russia won in five sets.
• At the European Championships, Poland beat Russia twice in their last three encounters: 3-2 in the 2005 semifinals and 3-1 in the 2009 second group stage. Russia won 3-1 in the third-place decider in 2007.
Poland
• Poland have won five consecutive VNL matches, directly following a run of four defeats. Their overall record in the competition is seven wins and six defeats.
• Poland could win six world level major tournament matches in a row for the first time since six combined in the 2009 and 2010 World Grands Prix.
• Poland could lose more than six matches in a single world level major tournament for the first time since the 2013 World Grand Prix (7 defeats).
• Poland have won 11 of their last 15 world level major tournament matches on home soil, including all four in the Nations League.
• Malwina Smarzek (322) is the leading VNL scorer after 13 matchrounds. With her 33-point effort against Japan on Tuesday, she became the first player to cross the 300-point mark in the Nations League.
Russia
• Russia have won seven and lost six of their 13 VNL matches.
• Russia's chances to qualify for the final round have been eliminated, despite beating the Dominican Republic 3-0 on Tuesday.
• Russia could win back-to-back world level major matches in straight sets for the first time since beating Cameroon and Japan by that score at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
• No Russian player managed to reach double figures in scoring against the Dominican Republic. Still, five players had eight or more points: Ekaterina Lyubushkina, Olga Biryukova, Anna Kotikova (9 each), Angelina Lazarenko and Irina Voronkova (8 each).