Milan, Italy, June 22, 2019 - Bartosz Kwolek led world champions Poland to victory against Serbia with 24 points in Milan on Saturday in Pool 14 of the 2019 men's FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Pre-match stats:
Poland - Serbia (June 22, 2019)
Head-to-Head
- Poland and Serbia (including predecessors) have met 32 times in world level major competitions, with Poland winning 17 matches and Serbia 15.
World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
- These teams met twice at the 2018 World Championship (second and third round). Poland won both matches in straight sets.
- Last year, Serbia defeated Poland in straight sets at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Poland
- Poland have won six and lost four matches in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Poland won a five-set thriller against Argentina on Friday, with the teams combining for a total of 227 points (Poland 114, Argentina 113).
- In VNL history, in only three matches were there more points scored than in Friday's match between Poland and Argentina (227) – Brazil-Australia on 1 June 2019 (235), United States-Poland on 1 June 2019 (234) and Australia-China on 16 June 2018 (234). Curiously, that last match was not even a five-setter.
- Poland have now won three of their four five-setters in the VNL, with a defeat against Iran on 15 June 2019 being the only exception.
- Dawid Konarski is Poland's leading scorer at the 2019 VNL on 84 points. Aleksander Sliwka (80 total points) edged closer to Konarski thanks to a joint team leading 15-point effort against Argentina on Friday.
Serbia
- Serbia have won five and lost five FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches in 2019.
On Friday, Serbia lost 3-0 to Italy. None of Serbia's first nine matches of the 2019 VNL ended in straight sets.
- No team has played more sets than Serbia at the 2019 VNL (45).
- Serbia could lose back-to-back VNL matches in straight-sets for the first time since their two final round matches in 2018, against Brazil and France.
- Only China's Zhejia Zhang (0.63) and Iran's Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi (0.59) average more blocks per set than Petar Krsmanovic (0.47).
Italy - Argentina (June 22, 2019)
Head-to-Head
- Italy and Argentina have met 31 times in world level major competitions. Italy won 23 matches, while Argentina won eight.
- World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
- Last year, Argentina defeated Italy in straight-sets in the VNL.
- These teams their most recent encounter in a world level major tournament was at the 2018 World Championship, with Italy winning 3-1.
Italy
- Italy have won eight of their last nine FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, with the exception in this run their 3-0 defeat to Russia on 9 June.
- Italy could set their outright VNL record winning streak of five matches. They are currently on their second four-match winning streak in the 2019 VNL.
- None of Italy's last 14 VNL matches was decided in five sets, since their 3-2 victory over Republic of Korea on 16 June 2018.
- Fabio Balaso is the tournament's best digger, averaging 2.74 per set.
- Simone Giannelli averages 8.43 sets per set, which ranks him among the best players in this category in the 2019 VNL.
- Gabriele Nelli, who sat out Friday's match against Serbia (3-0 win), is Italy's top scorer in this year's VNL on 157 points.
Argentina
- Argentina have won four and lost six matches in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Argentina's four wins this VNL season are already as many as they won in their whole 2018 campaign.
- In VNL history, in only three matches were there more points scored than in Friday's match between Poland and Argentina (227) – Brazil-Australia on 1 June 2019 (235), United States-Poland on 1 June 2019 (234) and Australia-China on 16 June 2018 (234). Curiously, that last match was not even a five-setter.
- Facundo Conte is among the most prolific scorers in the 2019 VNL on 126 total points. Conte was top scorer in Argentina's 3-2 defeat against Poland on Friday on 19 points.
- Santiago Danani is the best receiver in this VNL campaign with an efficiency of 36.73%. He also ranks among the best diggers, averaging 2.68 per set.