Ningbo, China, June 18, 2019 – Bulgaria claimed their second win of the 2019 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League on Tuesday with a victory against Serbia in China.
Bulgaria – Serbia (June 18, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• Serbia won their only previous meeting with Bulgaria in world level major competitions, a five-set victory in the first round of the 2014 World Championship.
• On 17 June 2015, Serbia beat Bulgaria in straight sets in the 2015 European Games preliminary round. Milena Rasic and Brankica Mihajlovic both scored a match-high 15 points for Bulgaria.
• Serbia (incl. predecessors) and Bulgaria faced each other five times at the European Championships, most recently in 2013 when Bulgaria came from two sets down to beat Serbia 3-2 in the group stage.
Bulgaria
• Bulgaria claimed their first win in the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (W1-L11), as they came from a set down to beat Republic of Korea 3-1 in Perugia on Thursday.
• Only Argentina (12) have had a longer VNL losing streak from the start of their debut in the competition than Bulgaria (11).
• Against Korea, Nasya Dimitrova broke the record for most points scored for Bulgaria in a single VNL match. She won 24 points, two more than Gergana Dimitrova (22) had against Netherlands on 29 May (3-1 loss).
• Zhana Todorova averages 3.45 digs per set, second most of all players in the 2019 VNL behind only Japan's Mako Kobata (3.57). Her tournament total of 152 digs is higher than any other player.
• Mira Todorova averages 0.68 blocks per set in the 2019 VNL, third most of all players in the competition.
• Only Serbia's Maja Aleksic (37) and Brazil's Ana Beatriz Correa (37) scored more points from stuff blocks than Todorova (30) this VNL season.
Serbia
• Serbia have won five and lost seven matches in their first four weeks of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
• Serbia have already lost more VNL matches in 2019 (W5-L7) than they suffered in the whole of last year's edition (W12-L5).
• Serbia have lost their last four FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, their longest losing run in the competition. Three of their last four defeats came in straight sets.
• Serbia are one of the three teams that have yet to play a five setter in the 2019 VNL alongside Republic of Korea and Japan.
• Serbia could lose five consecutive matches within a single major world level tournament for the first time since the London 2012 Olympic Games, where they lost all five of their matches.
• Maja Aleksic averages 0.88 blocks per set in the 2019 VNL, most of all players in the competition. Her tournament total of 37 stuff blocks is joint-most along with Brazil's Ana Beatriz Correa.
• Ana Bjelica (120) and Katarina Lazovic (109) are the only players to win more than 100 points for Serbia in the 2019 VNL. Last year, Tijana Boškovic finished the preliminary round in third place in the top scorers list on 238 points.
China – Germany (June 18, 2019)
Head-to-Head
• China have won 34 of their 38 major world level matches against Germany (incl. as East & West Germany).
• Germany's four world level victories against China came at the 1962 World Championship (3-2 as East Germany), the 1994 World Championship (3-1), the 2006 World Championship (3-1) and the 2009 World Grand Prix (3-1).
• China have won their last eight world level encounters with Germany, dropping only four sets in that run.
• China defeated Germany 3-2 in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, their most recent world level meeting. Despite their defeat, Germany delivered the two players with the most points that match: Kimberly Drewniok (22) and Jennifer Geerties (18).
China
• China lost 3-0 to United States in their most recent Volleyball Nations League match, ending a nine-match winning run in the competition.
• China could fail to win a set in successive world level matches for the first time since the 2017 World Grand Prix (United States, Italy).
• China are already qualified for the final round as they host this phase, just like last year.
• Ting Zhu (104) is the only player to reach 100 points for China in this year's VNL. In last year's preliminary round, five China players won 100+ points, including Ting Zhu (112).
• After four weeks of play, Ting Zhu is the best attacker in the competition with a success rate of 51.08.
Germany
• Germany have won five of their 12 matches in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, as many as they managed in last year's campaign (W5-L10).
• Germany could win at least six matches at a single world level tournament for the first time since the 2017 World Grand Prix (team record 9 wins).
• Louisa Lippmann has won 184 points in the 2019 VNL, fourth most among all players. Last year, Lippmann reached 224 points in the preliminary round.
• Despite a 3-2 defeat against Netherlands, Lippmann scored a match high 25 points.
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