Ottawa, Canada, June 8, 2019 – Serbia are counting on their winning edge over Australia, Canada are looking to win four matches in a row in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Serbia – Australia (June 8, 2019)
Head-to-head
• Serbia (includes Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia) have won seven of their eight major encounters at world level with Australia.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Australia's only victory in those eight meetings was a 3-2 triumph on home court in the 2015 World League.
• They met last year in both the Volleyball Nations League and the world championship. Serbia won both matches.
• Serbia and Australia are the only two teams that have started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with four defeats.
Serbia
• Including last season, Serbia have lost their last six Volleyball Nations League matches. They had lost only four of their first 15 matches in the competition.
• Serbia have lost seven consecutive matches in world level major tournaments for the first time.
• Serbia lost their last two matches in five sets, against Russia and Germany. They had won their previous four VNL matches that were played over five sets.
• In the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, Dusan Petkovic leads Serbia on 64 points. In the 3-2 defeat against Germany, Petkovic scored a match-high 27 points.
Australia
• In 2018, Australia lost their first four Volleyball Nations League matches, before claiming their first win in their fifth match (3-0 against Bulgaria). They have lost their first four matches of 2019.
• Australia have lost their last seven VNL matches, as many as they lost in their other 12 VNL matches combined.
• Australia could lose successive VNL matches in straight sets for the second time, after losses against Iran and France in their second and third match in 2018.
• Lincoln Alexander Williams is Australia's top scorer in the 2019 VNL on 46 points. He was their fifth-highest scorer in the 2018 VNL on 81 points.
• Samuel Walker (0.44 aces on average per set) is among the best servers in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
Canada – Germany (June 8, 2019)
Head-to-head
• Germany won each of their last three major encounters with Canada at world level and dropped only one set in those three victories.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Germany's current run of three wins against Canada was preceded by a string of six successive defeats against these opponents, the most recent of which was suffered in the 1992 World League.
• They met in the Volleyball Nations League last season with Germany winning 3-1 in Ottawa, Canada. Simon Hirsch paced Germany on 17 points in that match.
Canada
• After losing their opener 3-1 to Bulgaria, Canada have won three matches in a row at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
• Canada could equal their longest run of victories in the VNL: four wins from 1 to 8 June 2018.
• Six of Canada's last seven victories in the VNL have come in straight sets.
• After a match-high 20 points in Canada's encounter against Australia, Sharone Vernon-Evans (58) is his team's leading scorer at the 2019 VNL.
• Vernon-Evans is among the most efficient attackers at the 2019 VNL with a success rate of 59%.
• Graham Vigrass is among the best blockers at the 2019 VNL, averaging 0.79 per set.
• Blair Cameron Bann (2.07) is one of a select group of players averaging more than two digs per set at the 2019 VNL.
Germany
• Germany have started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with two victories and two defeats. Both wins came in five-setters.
• Germany could record three wins in their first five matches. At the 2018 VNL, they did not win their third match before their seventh fixture.
• Only Brazil (7) have played more five-set matches at the VNL than Germany (6). The Germans won three and lost three in the tournament.
• Julian Zenger is the tournament's best receiver and the only player to top 50% efficiency (52%)
• At the 2019 VNL, Simon Hirsch leads Germany in scoring with 53 points.
• Christian Fromm was Germany's top scorer in the 3-2 win over Serbia on 25 points.
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