Ekaterinburg, Russia, June 18, 2019 - Andrea Drews scored 24 points to lead USA to victory against the Netherlands in the first match in 2019 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League Pool 19 on Wednesday. Get more information on the dedicated Match Centre pages.
Netherlands-USA
Russia-Thailand
Pre-match stats:
Netherlands - United States (June 19, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· United States have a W22-L6 record against Netherlands at major world level competitions.
· Netherlands defeated United States 3-2 in the 2018 World Championship third round, their most recent world level meeting. This ended a nine-match losing run for the Dutch against team USA at world level.
· Lonneke Slöetjes scored a match-high 38 points in their World Championship meeting last year, at least 21 points more than any other player that match.
· Netherlands could record successive world level victories against United States for the second time after 2007-2009, when they won 3-1 at the 2007 World Grand Prix and 3-2 at the 2009 World Grand Prix.
· United States defeated Netherlands in straight sets in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, with a match-high 18 points by Jordan Larson.
Netherlands
· Netherlands have won their last three Volleyball Nations League matches, after losing eight of their first 10 matches in the 2019 VNL.
· Netherlands could equal their longest winning streak in the competition (4 matches), set on two occasions in the 2018 VNL.
· Netherlands (W5-L8) could lose at least nine matches at a single world level tournament for the third time, after the 1996 World Grand Prix (10) and the 1956 World Championship (9).
· Juliet Lohuis (106 points) is Netherlands' leading scorer this VNL campaign. In last year's preliminary round, five Dutch players reached the 100-points mark, including top scorer Lonneke Slöetjes (202).
· Lohuis (18 aces) is among the best servers in this year's VNL. No Dutch player managed to score more than 14 aces in the 2018 preliminary round (14 by Slöetjes).
United States
· United States have lost three matches in this year's VNL (W10-L3), already one more than in their entire 2018 campaign (W17-L2).
· United States have failed to win a set in only one of their 32 VNL fixtures, a straight-set defeat against Turkey on 11 June 2019.
· Andrea Drews (134) is United States's leading scorer in the 2019 VNL. In their 3-0 win against Russia on Tuesday, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley scored a match-high 16 points.
· Chiaka Ogbogu (21) has won the most points from stuff blocks for United States in the 2019 VNL. Last year, only Lauren Gibbemeyer (26) had more points from blocks for the team in the preliminary round.
· Andrea Drews is among the players with the highest spike success rates in this year's VNL, with 45.85%.
Russia - Thailand (June 19, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Russia (incl. predecessors) have lost only one of their previous 16 major world level meetings with Thailand, a 3-1 at the 2013 Grand Champions Cup.
· Russia won 3-2 in their most recent world level encounter with Thailand, in the 2018 World Championship first round. Nataliya Goncharova scored a match-high 30 points.
· Kseniia Parubets scored a match-high 25 points in Russia's 3-1 win against Thailand in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Russia
· Russia have won only three of their 13 Volleyball Nations League matches this year. In 2018, they finished the preliminary round with eight wins and seven defeats.
· Russia's 10 defeats in the 2019 VNL are already most for them in a single world level tournament. Their previous record for most defeat was eight in the 1995 World Grand Prix.
· Tatiana Iurinskaia (142) is Russia's leading scorer this VNL campaign. Last year, only Kseniia Parubets (149), Natalia Malykh (152) and Irina Voronkova (201) scored more points for the team in the preliminary round.
· Iurinskaia finished as Russia's (joint) top scorer in each of their last three VNL matches.
Thailand
· Thailand won one match in each of the previous four weeks of this year's Volleyball Nations League. This week, they started with a 3-0 defeat against Netherlands.
· Thailand's four wins at the 2019 VNL are already twice as many as their number of victories in 2018 (2).
· Thailand could win at least five matches at a single world level tournament for the third time, after the 2012 World Grand Prix (9) and the 2011 World Grand Prix (6).
· Only Republic of Korea (14) have lost more VNL matches in straight sets than Thailand (12).
· Ajcharaporn Kongyot (134) and Chatchu-On Moksri (132) are Thailand's leading scorers in the 2019 VNL. Kongyot (187) and Moksri (160) also won the most points for the team in last year's preliminary round.
· Nootsara Tomkom (6.56 average per set) is the best setter in the 2019 VNL.