Kortrijk, Belgium, June 6, 2019 - Kortrijk, Belgium, June 6, 2019 – Poland take on Russia looking to win their seventh win, while Serbia play hosts Belgium to earn their sixth win in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Poland – Russia (June 6, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Poland beat Russia 3-0 at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League to record their second victory against Russia at any world level major tournament (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
• Poland's other win in 16 total matches against Russia was a 3-0 victory at the 2007 World Grand Prix.
• The 2018 VNL encounter was the first match between Poland and Russia since the latter won 3-2 at the 2013 World Grand Prix.
• Malwina Smarzek was Poland's top scorer in the 3-0 win versus Russia at the 2018 VNL, scoring 20 points.
Poland
• After their 3-1 win over Belgium on Wednesday, Poland have now won six and lost two matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
• In their first eight matches of the 2018 VNL, Poland had the exact opposite result compared to 2019: two wins and six defeats.
• Poland have won 12 of their last 15 matches in the VNL. Their defeats came back-to-back against Dominican Republic (June 2018) and Italy (May 2019) and last Tuesday against Serbia.
• Malwina Smarzek leads all players in this year's VNL on 212 points. Magdalena Stysiak became top scorer in the match against Belgium, outscoring Smarzek 24 points to 21.
• After the match against Belgium, Agnieszka Kakolewska (25) has scored most points from blocks of all players this VNL season.
Russia
• Russia are on a six-match losing streak in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. Four of those defeats were in straight sets.
• Russia could lose seven successive world level major tournament matches for the first time since Soviet Union lost seven in a row at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games (final against Japan) and the 1977 World Cup combined.
• Russia have lost four matches in straight sets at the 2019 VNL. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the only world level tournaments in which Russia lost that many matches by a 3-0 scoreline were the 2018 VNL (6) and the 2015 World Grand Prix (4).
• Russia have lost seven matches at the 2019 VNL. The only world level tournament at which Soviet Union/Russia lost more matches was the 1995 World Grand Prix (8 defeats).
• Margarita Kurilo is Russia's top scorer in the 2019 VNL on 112 points.
Belgium – Serbia (June 6, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Belgium have yet to claim their first win against Serbia in a world level competition (FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
• Of the four encounters between Belgium and Serbia, three ended in a 3-0 victory for Serbia. Serbia won 3-2 at the 2016 World Grand Prix.
• In Serbia's 3-0 victory against Belgium at last year's VNL, none of Belgium's players reached double digits in points (Celine Van Gestel 9), whereas Serbia had Brankica Mihajlovic (16), Bojana Milenkovic (14) and Stefana Veljkovic (10) were Serbia's top scoring players.
• Belgium's only win against Serbia at the European Championships was a 3-2 victory in the bronze medal match in 2013.
Belgium
• Belgium have won four and lost four matches at this year's Volleyball Nations League.
• Belgium could already surpass their total number of wins from the 2018 VNL, when they won four matches. The only world level tournament in which they won more than four matches was the 2014 World Grand Prix - eight victories.
• Belgium could lose back-to-back matches at the 2019 VNL for the second time, after falling to Republic of Korea and China successively in rounds four and five.
• Marlies Janssens has recorded 16 aces and her average of 0.57 per set is the best in this year's VNL (as of the end of Belgium - Poland).
• Three players set the pace for Belgium against Poland, scoring 14 points each: Kaja Grobelna, Celine Van Gestel and Britt Herbots. Herbots is Belgium's top scorer in the 2019 VNL, with 124 total points.
Serbia
• Serbia have won five and lost three of their first eight matches at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
• Serbia could win three successive matches for the first time at this year's VNL.
• Serbia could become the first reigning world champions to lose at least four matches at the first world level tournament following the World Championship since Russia lost five matches at the 2011 World Grand Prix.
• Maja Aleksic produced six blocks against Russia on Wednesday, improving her tournament total to a team-high 20.
• Ana Bjelica (27 points) was top scorer in Serbia's 3-1 win over Russia. Bjelica is also Serbia's top scorer at the 2019 VNL on 109 points.
• Bjelica scored five block points against Russia on Wednesday. She had only two successful blocks in the tournament until Wednesday's match.
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