Lausanne, Switzerland, June 13, 2018 - Poland are out to extend their 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League winning streak to seven when they host the Dominican Republic Thursday in Walbrzych - something that they haven't achieved at world level in 44 years, since a run of eight spanning the 1970 and 1974 FIVB World Championship.
Head-to-Head
• The Dominican Republic lead the head-to-head against Poland at major world level tournaments: 8-6.
• The women's world level major competitions are: the VNL, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup.
• The Dominican Republic's eight wins against Poland are most for them against specific opponents at major world level competitions.
• Their most recent major world level encounter came at the 2016 World Grand Prix where the Dominican Republic won 3-2 after losing the first two sets.
• Poland's last victory versus the Dominican Republic at major world level was a straight-sets win at the 2012 World Grand Prix.
Poland
• Poland have won six consecutive VNL matches, directly following a run of four successive defeats. Their overall record in the competition is eight wins and six defeats.
• Poland could win seven world level major tournament matches in a row for the second time, after eight successive wins spanning the 1970 and 1974 World Championships. They could do it for the first time at a single world level major tournament.
• Poland could lose more than six matches at a single world level major tournament for the first time since the 2013 World Grand Prix (then 7 defeats).
• Poland have won 12 of their last 16 world level major tournament matches on home soil, including all five in the Nations League.
• Malwina Smarzek (342) is the leading VNL points scorer. She again paced her team against Russia on Wednesday with 20 points.
Dominican Republic
• The Dominican Republic lost 3-2 to Japan on Wednesday. They were leading 2-1, before Japan edged them 29-27 in the fourth set and 15-13 in the fifth set.
• It marked the Dominican Republic's seventh consecutive defeat at the VNL. In the previous six losses they had only won a total of one set.
• At world level major competitions, the Dominican Republic last had a longer run of successive defeats from October 2014 to August 2015, when they lost 14 matches spanning the the 2014 World Championships, the 2015 World Grand Prix and the 2015 World Cup.
• Their last victory in the VNL was the 3-0 win over Thailand on 29 May.
• Their last world level victory over a European opponent was their 3-2 win over Belgium on 16 July 2017 at the World Grand Prix.
• Yonkaira Pena scored a match-high 28 points in Dominican Republic's match against Japan on Wednesday.