Belgrade, Serbia, May 20, 2019 - World champions Serbia begin their women's 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League campaign against the Netherlands and Turkey play Korea at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade on May 21. Get the team and head-to-head stats below.
Serbia - Netherlands (May 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Serbia (including as Yugoslavia) and Netherlands have met seven times in world level major competitions (Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup), with Netherlands winning three times and Serbia four matches.
· Netherlands beat Serbia 3-2 in last year's Volleyball Nations League, 20-18 in the final set. Serbia's Tijana Boškovic scored 35 points in this match, a tournament-high for Serbia.
· Netherlands were the only team to beat Serbia twice in a world level major competition in 2018, in the Volleyball Nations League (3-2 group stage) and at the World Championship (3-0 second round group).
· Serbia took revenge for these two defeats by winning the semifinal against Netherlands 3-1 at last year's World Championship in Japan. Serbia went on to win their first world title, beating Italy 3-2 in the final.
· Serbia also defeated Netherlands 3-1 in the final of the 2017 European Championships.
Serbia
· Serbia are the reigning world champion (2018) and European champion (2017). They won the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and they finished third in the 2017 World Grand Prix.
· Serbia finished in joint-fifth place at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, together with Netherlands.
· Serbia lost their final two matches at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League and they could lose three successive matches in a major tournament for the first time since losing their first three matches at the 2016 World Grand Prix.
· Following a loss in their first match at the 2016 World Grand Prix, Serbia have started all of their major world level tournament with a straight-set victory, including 3-0 versus Japan at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League.
· Serbia's most recent defeat in straight sets was the 3-0 against Netherlands in the second round of the World Championship.
· Tijana Boškovic led all players in spikes (206) in the preliminary round of the 2018 Volleyball Nations League.
Netherlands
· Netherlands finished in joint-fifth place at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, together with Serbia.
· Netherlands lost their last three matches at the 2018 World Championship. The last time they lost four matches in a row at world level major tournaments was in 2013 at the World Grand Prix. That run included a 3-0 loss versus Serbia.
· Netherlands won their first four matches at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League. They have lost their opening match at a world level competition only once in their last 10 tournaments, a 3-1 loss against Russia at the 2016 World Grand Prix.
· Anne Buijs (best receiver, 16% efficiency) and Maret Balkestein-Grothues (best digger, 1.7 average per set) both finished in the top five of these statistical categories in the preliminary round of the Volleyball Nations League in 2018.
Turkey - Korea (May 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Turkey and Korea have met seven times in world level major competitions (Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup), including once at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League.
· Turkey have won their last four world level matches against Korea, including a straight-set victory in the 2018 Volleyball Nations League preliminary round.
· Korea's last win over Turkey at world level came in the first round of the 2010 World Championship (3-2).
Turkey
· Turkey lost the 2018 Volleyball Nations League final 3-2 against United States, despite taking the lead twice (17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-15, 15-7).
· Last year, Turkey won all their three matches in the opening week of the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, including a straight-set victory over Italy in their opener.
· Turkey's second-place finish at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League was their second podium spot at a world level major competition. They finished third at the 2012 World Grand Prix.
· Turkey also collected bronze at the 2017 European Championship, their third medal in this tournament after silver in 2003 and bronze in 2011.
· Turkey played seven five-setters at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, more than any other team.
· Only Poland's Marlena Plesnierowicz (24) scored more points from aces in the preliminary round of the 2018 Volleyball Nations League than Eda Erdem Dündar (22).
· Meryem Boz scored 197 points in the preliminary round of the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, at least 18 more than any other teammate (Erdem Dündar 179).
Korea
· Korea have never finished a world level major competition higher than third. Their most recent third-place finish came at the 1997 World Grand Prix.
· Korea lost nine of their last 10 matches at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, including each of their last five in straight sets. Their sole win in that run was a 3-1 preliminary round victory over Thailand on 5 June 2018.
· Only Argentina (12) suffered more straight-set defeats at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League than Korea (9).
· Korea won four of their first five matches at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League, with the only exception in that run a straight-set defeat against Belgium in their opening fixture.
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