Ruse, Bulgaria, May 23, 2019 - Belgium and Japan play and hosts Bulgaria play title-holders USA in 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Pool 2 on Thursday. Get the head-to-head statistics below.
Belgium - Japan (May 23, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Japan won all their three matches against Belgium in world level major competitions (Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup), including a straight-set victory at the 2018 Volleyball Nations League.
· Japan dropped only one set in their previous three world level matches against Belgium, in the 3-1 win in the 2014 World Championship first round (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23).
· These teams first met at world level on 23 August 2014, when Japan beat Belgium 3-0 in the final round of the World Grand Prix.
Belgium
· Belgium erased a 2-0 set deficit to beat Bulgaria 3-2 on Wednesday. They had started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with a 3-0 defeat against United States.
· Belgium could win successive VNL matches for the first time.
· Last year, Belgium won two of their first three VNL matches - 3-0 against Republic of Korea and 3-2 against Dominican Republic.
· With 23 points, Britt Herbots ended up top scorer in Belgium's match against Bulgaria. Herbots was the only player in that match with at least three points from spikes (17), blocks (3) and serves (3).
Japan
· Japan beat Bulgaria 3-1 and lost 3-1 to United States in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League thus far.
· Japan could lose back-to-back VNL matches for only the second time, after successive defeats against Serbia and Brazil in the first two matches of the 2018 VNL.
· In each of the last six VNL matches involving Japan, both teams won at least one set. Seven of Japan's previous 11 VNL matches ended in straight sets.
· Yuki Ishii was Japan's most prolific scorer in both VNL matches in 2019, scoring 19 points against Bulgaria and 23 against United States.
United States - Bulgaria (May 23, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· This is the first match between Bulgaria and United States in the Volleyball Nations League.
· United States won four of their six encounters with Bulgaria at world major level, including each of their last three.
· Their most recent major meeting took place at last year's World Championship. United States won in straight sets, led by top scorer Kimberly Hill on 13 points.
· Bulgaria claimed their last major victory over USA at the 1998 World Championship, where the Europeans emerged victorious in straight sets.
Bulgaria
· Bulgaria have opened their 2019 Volleyball Nations League campaign with two defeats – 3-1 against Japan and 3-2 against Belgium.
· Bulgaria, debutants in the competition, lost 3-2 against Belgium on Wednesday, despite collecting more points than their opponents in that match – 101 to 99.
· Miroslava Paskova (20), Gergana Dimitrova (16) and Mira Todorova (13) reached double figures in scoring against Belgium.
· Gergana Dimitrova is Bulgaria's top scorer thus far in the 2019 VNL with 34 total points.
United States
· United States started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League with two victories, 3-0 over Belgium and 3-1 against Japan.
· United States have won 19 of their 21 Volleyball Nations League matches, with the only exceptions a 3-1 loss against Serbia and a
five-set defeat against Turkey in 2018.
· United States could concede a set in back-to-back VNL matches for only the third time. They
never conceded a set in more than two consecutive matches.
· Haleigh Washington scored 20 of United States 99 total points against Japan, a team-high.
· Against Japan, six players managed to reach double figures in scoring – Haleigh Washington (20), Madison Kingdon Rishel, Jordan Thompson, Hannah Tapp (13 each), Andrea Drews and Mikaela Foecke (11 each).
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