Ningbo, China, June 9, 2019 – France are one win away from their sweep of their pool matches, while Poland are looking for back-to-back wins on the second week of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Bulgaria – France (June 9, 2019)
Head-to-head
• France have won each of their last four major encounters at world level with Bulgaria.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Their current winning run against Bulgaria is already France's best against these opponents in major encounters.
• Their last major meeting took place in the VNL last season. France won in straight sets in Varna, Bulgaria. Jean Patry led France's charge on 16 points.
Bulgaria
• Bulgaria have lost their last four Volleyball Nations League matches, which is already their longest losing run in the competition.
• The last time Bulgaria lost five consecutive matches within a single world level major competition was in the 2016 World League (8 defeats).
• Bulgaria have won one of five matches at the 2019 VNL. In 2018, Bulgaria had two wins and four defeats after six VNL matches.
• In the 3-1 defeat against Poland on Saturday, Rozalin Penchev and Nikolay Uchikov were Bulgaria's top scorers on 14 goals each.
• Uchikov is Bulgaria's top scorer at the 2019 VNL on 80 points, 35 points more than the next prolific scorer (Penchev 45).
France
• France have won each of their five matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. They are one of two teams in the competition with a 100% winning record, alongside Brazil.
• France and Brazil could become the first teams to win their first six matches of a single VNL campaign. In 2018, both United States and Poland won their first five matches of the tournament before losing their sixth match.
• Last year, France lost two of their first six matches in the VNL. They still went on to reach the final, which they lost against Russia. That is their most recent defeat in the competition.
• After four 3-1 victories, France claimed their first straight-sets win in the 2019 against China on Saturday. In 2018, they had a run of multiple 3-0 victories once: against Serbia, Bulgaria and Brazil in June.
• In his first appearance at the 2019 VNL, Stephen Boyer scored 17 points against China, most of all players on court. Last year, Boyer ended up scoring 182 points for France in the preliminary round.
China – Poland (June 9, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Poland have won 16 of their 18 matches against China at world level major tournaments (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup).
• China's two wins in those 18 were a 3-2 victory at the 1978 World Championship, and a 3-1 win in the 2008 World League.
• Their most recent encounter was Poland's 3-0 in Lódz in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, when Poland scored 10 points from blocks, against two for China.
• Poland could win two world level matches in a row against China in straight sets for the first time since 3-0 victories at the 2006 World Championship and the 2007 World League.
China
• China won one of their five matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, 3-0 against Bulgaria on Friday 7 June.
• Last year, China had amassed two wins after six VNL matches. That second win came in their sixth match in the competition (3-2 against France).
• Each of China's last four VNL matches were decided in three sets (1 win, 3 defeats), since a 3-2 defeat against Germany in their opening VNL match of 2019.
• In the 3-0 defeat against France, Qingyao Dai was the only player on the court to score multiple points from attacks (6), blocks (3) and serves (2).
Poland
• Poland beat Bulgaria 3-1 on Saturday, to end a two-match losing streak in the VNL.
• Poland have now won three of their five matches at the 2019 VNL. In 2018, Poland had five wins and one defeat after six matches. That only defeat came in their sixth match against Germany.
• In each of Poland's five matches this VNL campaign, both teams won at least one set.
• Four different players scored at least 10 points for Poland in the 3-1 win over Bulgaria, with Bartosz Bednorz (17) leading the team.
• Poland scored 14 points from blocks against Bulgaria, with Mateusz Bieniek leading all players with four points from blocks.
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB.com - Volleyball Nations League
FIVB.com - Volleyball
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