Hoffman Estates, USA, June 21, 2019 - Week four of the men's 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League visits Hoffman Estates in the United States where Friday saw Canada win against China before the hosts defeated Japan in the second match of the day.
Pre-match stats:
Canada - China (June 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Canada and China have met 12 times in world level major competitions. Canada won eight times, China four times.
· World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
· China won four of their first five world level matches against Canada, but have lost all seven since. Their last victory over the Canadians dates back to the 1995 World Cup.
· Last year, Canada won in straight sets in the VNL against China.
Canada
· Canada have lost each of their last four FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, directly following a four-match winning run.
· Canada can lose five consecutive world level matches for the first time since losing nine in a row at the 2012 World League.
· Sharone Vernon-Evans is the top scorer in the competition on 158 points: 129 from spikes, 16 from blocks and 13 from serves.
· Vernon-Evans is among the best attackers (53.09% success rate) and best servers (0.37 average per set) in the competition.
· Last year, only Stephen Timothy Maar (165) scored more points for Canada at the VNL than Vernon-Evans (158) this year.
China
· China have won only one of their first nine matches at the 2019 VNL, a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.
· China have played the fewest sets in the competition (30) and have scored the fewest points of all teams (608).
· Zhejia Zhang is the second-best blocker in the competition with an average of 0.63 per set.
· Guojun Zhan is among the best setters in the competition (4.13 average per set).
United States - Japan (June 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· United States have a W33-L9 record against Japan in world level major competitions.
· World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Volleyball Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
· USA could beat Japan for the 20th time in a row at world level major competitions.
· Last year, United States prevailed in five sets against Japan in the Volleyball Nations League.
· Japan's last world level victory over USA came back in 1993, when they won 3-1 in the Grand Champions Cup.
United States
· United States won their last four FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, since a 3-0 defeat to Russia on 8 June.
· They could now equal their VNL record winning streak of five matches in a row, set on two previous occasions, both in 2018.
· On 84 points, Benjamin Patch is USA's top scorer this VNL campaign. It ranks him in 30th place overall.
· Last year, Patch totalled 101 points in the preliminary round, ranking him third for USA behind Matthew Anderson (166) and Aaron Russell (128).
Japan
· Japan are on a team record two-match winning streak in the VNL, having beaten Bulgaria and Australia 3-2 last weekend.
· Japan have already won four matches this VNL campaign. Last year, they won six.
· Yuji Nishida (124) and Yuki Ishikawa (121) are in fourth and fifth place respectively on this year's VNL best scorer's list.
· Last year, Nishida also led Japan's charge by totalling 187 points in the preliminary round.