Lausanne, Switzerland, May 15, 2018 - Russia host Thailand in Ekaterinburg Wednesday to close day 2 of Pool 1 in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, looking for their second straight win in the competition after their opening day four-set victory over Argentina. Thailand seek their first win, following their defeat in the hands of The Netherlands on Tuesday, but haven't beaten the Russians since 2013.
Head-to-Head
• Russia (including Soviet Union and CIS) have won 13 of their 14 matches against Thailand in world level major competitions (Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
• Thailand only avoided defeat against Russia on 17 November 2013, when they claimed a 3-1 victory at the 2013 Grand Champions Cup (round robin).
• Russia claimed seven of their 13 victories over Thailand by a 3-0 scoreline.
Russia
• Russia began the tournament with a 3-1 win against Argentina.
• The previous major world level tournament in which Russia started with two wins was at the Olympic Games in 2016.
• Russia scored 13 points from blocks against Argentina.
• Kseniia Parubets scored 21 points versus Argentina. Her teammate Natalia Malykh added 17 points.
Thailand
• Thailand lost 3-0 to Netherlands in their first match at the Nations League.
• The last time Thailand avoided defeat in one of their first two fixtures at a major world level competition was at the 2015 World Grand Prix (W1-L1).
• Seven of Thailand's last eight victories at major world level tournaments came against European teams.
• Ajcharaporn Kongyot was Thailand's top scorer against Netherlands on 10 points.