Ankara, Turkey, June 18, 2019 - Brazil defeated Belgium on the second day of action in 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Pool 17 in Ankara to end the European team's hopes of progressing to the Finals in Nanjing.
Belgium-Brazil
Italy-Turkey
Pre-match stats:
Belgium - Brazil (19 Jun 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Brazil (W9-L0) are unbeaten in their major world level meetings with Belgium, dropping only three sets in these nine matches.
· Belgium have not played more than six world level matches against any other opponents without ever winning (6 versus Italy).
· Brazil's 100% winning record in nine matches against Belgium at world level is also their best. They played eight world level games against both Canada and Kenya without losing.
· Brazil defeated Belgium 3-1 in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, their most recent world level encounter. Britt Herbots scored a match-high 21 points.
Belgium
· Belgium have won seven and lost six matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
· Belgium have won at least one set in each of their last eight VNL matches, since a 3-0 loss against China on 29 May.
· Britt Herbots (204) is Belgium's leading scorer in the 2019 VNL. She is only nine points shy of her total in last year's preliminary round (213).
· Marlies Janssens has scored the most aces (24) and also has the highest ace average per set (0.49) of all players in the 2019 VNL.
Brazil
· Brazil have won their last six Volleyball Nations League matches, including their last three in straight sets.
· Only China (8) have won more matches in straight sets in the 2019 VNL than Brazil (7).
· Brazil have won at least one set in each of their 13 matches in the 2019 VNL, since a 3-0 defeat against China in last year's third-place decider.
· With two preliminary round matches to go, Gabriela Braga Guimaraes (212) needs 19 more points to equal Brazil's top scorer of least year's preliminary round Tandara Caixeta (231).
· Only Serbia's Maja Aleksic (39) has scored more points from stuff blocks than Ana Neatriz Correa (38) in this year's VNL.
Italy - Turkey (19 Jun 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Italy have won 10 of their previous 12 major world level encounters with Turkey.
· Turkey's world level victories over Italy came at the 2014 World Grand Prix (3-1) and in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (3-0).
· Italy defeated Turkey 3-0 in the 2018 World Championship first round, with Paola Egonu scoring a match-high 15 points.
· At the European Championships, Turkey have won their last two matches against Italy: 3-2 in the 2011 group stage and 3-2 in the 2011 third-place decider. Italy had won their first six encounters at the European Championships.
Italy
· Italy have won 10 VNL matches in 2019 (W10-L3), already as many as they managed in last year's edition (W10-L5).
· Italy come off a 3-0 defeat against Brazil on Tuesday. They can suffer back-to-back defeats for the second time in the VNL after a run of four defeats in their opening four fixtures in last year's edition.
· With two preliminary round matches to go, Indre Sorokaite (181) and Elena Pietrini (180) have already matched Italy's top scorer in the 2018 VNL, Paola Ogechi Egonu (180).
· Only Belgium's Marlies Janssens (24) has scored more aces in the 2019 VNL than Sorokaite (22).
· Elena Pietrini (46.47%) is among the top three players with the highest spike success rates in the 2019 VNL.
Turkey
· Turkey have won 10 of their 13 matches in this year's Volleyball Nations League, but lost two of their last three.
· Only United States (17) and China (14) have won more VNL matches in straight sets than Turkey (13).
· Turkey come off a 3-1 defeat against Belgium on Tuesday. They have lost back-to-back VNL matches on only one occasion, successive five-set defeats against Russia and Serbia in the 2018 VNL preliminary round.
· Ebrar Karakurt (186) is Turkey's leading points scorer in this year's VNL. In last year's preliminary round, only Meryem Boz (197) won more points for Turkey.
· Karakurt is the best attacker (48.28%) and the second-best server (0.45) in the 2019 VNL.
· Karakurt has scored 20 aces in this year's VNL. Eda Erdem Dündar (22) had the most aces for Turkey in last year's preliminary round.