Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2019 – Turkey and Bulgaria are meeting for the first time, while Thailand are seeking to win back-to-back matches in Bangkok at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Bulgaria – Turkey (June 5, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Turkey and tournament debutants Bulgaria will meet for the first time at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
• These teams most recently met in world level major competition (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup) on 2 October 2018, when Turkey recorded a straight-set victory over Bulgaria at the 2018 World Championship. Turkey's Meryem Boz scored a match-high 17 points.
• Bulgaria beat Turkey in five sets at the 2014 World Championships, in these nations' only other meeting at world level.
Turkey
• Turkey won six of their seven matches in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, with the only exception a straight-set defeat against Japan in Ankara on 28 May.
• Turkey also won six of their opening seven matches in the 2018 VNL. They went on to lose their last two matches in week three - five-set defeats against Russia and Serbia.
• Turkey dropped only two sets in their six VNL wins this year - 3-1 versus Netherlands on 22 May and 3-1 against Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
• Turkey won all four previous VNL matches in Thailand, victories against Japan, Thailand and Korea in Nakhon Ratchasima in June 2018 and versus Dominican Republic in Bangkok on Tuesday.
• Gözde Yilmaz scored a match-high 22 points on her VNL debut versus Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
• Hande Baladin scored 18 points against Dominican Republic, twice as many as she did in her three appearances in week 2 of the 2019 VNL (9).
Bulgaria
• Bulgaria have lost all seven matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, their debut campaign in the competition.
• Only Argentina (12) have had a longer VNL losing streak than seven matches from their debut in the competition.
• Bulgaria won the opening set in four of their seven VNL matches.
• Four Bulgaria players reached double figures in scoring in their 3-1 defeat against Thailand on Tuesday - Miroslava Paskova (15), Mira Todorova (15), Nasya Dimitrova (12) and Simona Dimitrova (11).
Thailand – Dominican Republic (June 5, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Dominican Republic have won seven of their nine meetings with Thailand at major world level competitions (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
• Thailand's two world level victories against Dominican Republic came at the 2012 World Grand Prix (3-0) and at the 2014 World Grand Prix (3-1).
• Dominican Republic have won their last three world level matches against Thailand: 3-1 and 3-2 at the 2017 World Grand Prix and 3-0 at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League.
Thailand
• Thailand won their first match of week 3 in four sets against Bulgaria. They won exactly one match in each of the first two weeks of the 2019 VNL.
• Thailand have already won more Volleyball Nations League matches in 2019 (3) than in 2018 (2).
• Ajcharaporn Kongyot scored 30 points in Thailand's 3-1 win over Bulgaria, at least 15 more than any other player on the pitch and at least 19 more than any other teammate.
• With 30 points, Kongyot set a new record for most points scored for Thailand in a single VNL match. On 24 May 2018, Chatchu-On Moksri won 29 points in a 3-2 win over Poland.
• Kongyot (30 points) became the first player to score more than 19 points for Thailand in a single match in this year's VNL.
• Kongyot (88 points) is Thailand's leading scorer in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. She finished on a team-high 162 points in last year's edition.
Dominican Republic
• Dominican Republic won three of their seven matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. They won three of their 15 matches in last year's edition.
• None of the last nine VNL matches involving Dominican Republic have been decided in straight sets, including all seven in the 2019 competition.
• Dominican Republic won at least one set in each of their last nine VNL matches, after being beaten in straight sets in seven of their first 13 VNL matches.
• Dominican Republic lost three of their four VNL matches in Bangkok, including Tuesday's 3-1 defeat against Turkey.
• Bethania De La Cruz De Peña scored a team-high 17 points in Dominican Republic's 3-1 loss versus Turkey. She last reached the 17-point mark in a VNL match on 23 May 2019, when she scored 21 points in a 3-1 loss versus China.
• Only Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez (139) won more points for Dominican Republic than Bethania De La Cruz De Peña (104) in this year's VNL.
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB.com - Volleyball Nations League
FIVB.com - Volleyball
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram