Novi Sad, Serbia, June 1, 2019 – France avenged last year’s defeat in the final to Russia, while Japan upset hosts Serbia on their respective 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League opening day matches to give them an opportunity to gain a 2-0 run in the tournament on Saturday.
Japan – Russia (June 1, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Japan and Russia (including predecessors) will meet for the 69th time in world level major competitions. Japan won only nine of their 68 encounters.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, FIVB Volleyball Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• The only fixture which has been played more often in world level major competitions is Brazil against United States (76, including 2019 Nations League match round 1).
• Russia have won 32 of their last 33 matches against Japan in world level major competitions, with the exception of a 3-1 World League defeat on 11 July 2009.
Japan
• Japan beat Serbia 3-1 in their 2019 Volleyball Nations League opener on Friday. Last VNL season, Japan started with a 3-1 win over Australia, before losing 3-1 against France.
• Japan could win two VNL matches in a row for the second time, after successively beating Italy and Germany 3-2 in June 2018.
• Yuki Ishikawa scored 19 points in Japan's opener against Serbia, at least five more than any other player.
• Yuji Nishida scored 14 points against Serbia. Last year, only three players scored more points in the 2018 VNL preliminary round than Nishida (187).
Russia
• Russia lost their 2019 Volleyball Nations League opener 3-1 against France on Friday.
• Russia have lost just two of their last 13 VNL matches, with both defeats coming versus France.
• Eight of Russia's last nine wins at the VNL came in straight sets, with the only exception in that run a 3-1 win over Poland on 4 July 2018.
• Egor Kliuka scored a match-high 20 points in Russia's opener against France. At the 2018 VNL, Kliuka was Russia's top scorer with a total of 224 points.
• Kliuka scored four points from serves against France, already one-third of his total in the preliminary round of the 2018 edition (12).
Serbia – France (June 1, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Serbia (including predecessors) and France met 31 times in world level major competitions. France lead the head-to-head by one win (16-15).
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, FIVB Volleyball Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• At the 2018 World Championship, Serbia prevailed in five sets against France, ending a seven-match losing streak against them in world level major tournament matches.
• Last year, these teams met twice in the Nations League. France won both encounters in straight sets.
• These teams met in the 2015 World League final. France won in straight sets to win their first major title.
Serbia
• Serbia started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with a 3-1 loss against Japan on Friday. In 2018, they opened the VNL with a 3-0 defeat against Brazil, before beating Germany 3-1 in their second fixture.
• Including their last two matches at the 2018 VNL, Serbia have now lost three straight matches in the competition, their longest VNL losing streak.
• David Mehic (12 points) was Serbia's top scorer against Japan. At the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, Drazen Luburic was Serbia's top scorer on 156 points.
• Thirteen of Serbia's 14 players appeared in their opener against Japan, with Aleksandar Okolic as the only exception. Petar Krsmanovic was the only player to start all four sets for Serbia.
France
• France beat Russia 3-1 in their 2019 Volleyball Nations League opener on Friday, taking revenge for last year's defeat in the VNL final (3-0 Russia win).
• France won all three of their matches in the opening week of the 2018 VNL, against Iran (3-1), Japan (3-1) and Australia (3-0).
• Jean Patry was France's top scorer against Russia with 16 points. Last year, Patry scored 98 total points in the VNL preliminary round, fifth-most among French players.
• Nicolas Le Goff scored a match-high four stuff blocks. At the 2018 VNL, only Stephen Boyer (28) and Kevin Le Roux (26) scored more stuff blocks for France than Le Goff (20).
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