Brisbane, Australia, June 29, 2019 - Day 2 of Pool 17 of the 2019 men's FIVB Volleyball Nations League began with a victory for title-holders Russia against Argentina in Brisbane.
Argentina-Russia
Australia-China
Pre-match stats:
Argentina - Russia (June 29, 2019)
Head-to-head
· Russia (including predecessors) have won 14 of their 17 major encounters at world level with Argentina.
· World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
· Two of Argentina's three major victories over Russia took place within the space of three months, in the 2016 World League and at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. Their only other win came at the 1990 World Championships (3-2 vs Soviet Union).
· They also met in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League last season, with Russia emerging victorious in straight sets in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Argentina
· Argentina have won seven matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, including five of their last six.
· The last tournament in which Argentina won at least eight matches was the 2015 World League (8 wins).
· Argentina could win four successive major world level matches for the first time since a five-match winning streak at the 2015 World Cup.
· All of Argentina's 11 VNL victories came after winning the first set. They suffered defeat in the last 11 VNL matches in which they lost the opening set.
· Bruno Lima (162) and Facundo Conte (160) are Argentina's leading scorers in the 2019 VNL. In last year's preliminary round, Cristian Poglajen (163) scored the most points for Argentina.
Russia
· Russia have won 10 of their 13 matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League. Last year, they won 11 of their 15 VNL matches in the league round.
· Of Russia's three defeats, two were against host nations in the pool (Brazil and Iran). Their record on neutral ground is W5-L1 in 2019.
· Russia are the only team yet to lose a five-set match in the 2019 VNL.
· Russia play their first matches on Australian soil at major world level competition since the 2000 Olympic Games, where they lost the final against Yugoslavia, after they defeated Argentina in the semi-finals.
· Denis Zemchenok scored a team-high 15 points against Australia on Friday.
Australia - China (June 29, 2019)
Head-to-head
· China have won three of their five major encounters with Australia at world level.
· World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
· Their most recent major encounter took place in the VNL last season, with Australia emerging victorious 3-1 in Seoul, Korea.
· China's last major victory against Australia took place in the 2017 World League. China won 3-1 on home court in Kunshan.
Australia
· Australia won two of their 13 matches in this year's Volleyball Nations League, 3-0 against Germany on 9 June and 3-0 versus Portugal in their most recent match on 23 June.
· Australia have won only two of their last 15 home matches in world level major competitions, 3-0 against Netherlands in the 2017 World League and 3-2 against Serbia in the 2015 World League.
· Australia are one defeat short of their record most defeats in a single tournament as they lost 12 matches in the 1999 World League (world level major competitions).
· Last season, Australia won five VNL matches.
· Curtis Jeffrey Arthur Stockton was Australia's top scorer against Russia on seven points. The country's leading scorer in the tournament, Lincoln Alexander Williams, only played the third set against Russia, recording five points.
China
· China have won only one of their 13 matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.
· China had a W3-L12 record in the 2018 preliminary round. Only Republic of Korea (W1-L14) had a worse record in 2018.
· China have won only one of their last 19 matches in world level major competitions, dating back to June 2018.
· Jiang Chuan (155) is the only China player to have reached the 100-point mark in this year's VNL. Jiang Chuan registered a competition-high 274 points in the 2018 preliminary round.