Conegliano Veneto, Italy, May 27, 2019 - Title-holders USA take on world champions Serbia in the first match in 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Pool 5 on Tuesday. That will be followed by an encounter between pool hosts Italy and the Dominican Republic. Get the head-to-head statistics below.
United States - Serbia (May 28, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· United States 3-0 win in the final round of the 2018 Volleyball Nations League ended a run of three defeats against Serbia at world level major competitions (Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
· United States and Serbia have met twice at the VNL. Serbia won 3-1 in the league round and United States won 3-0 in the final round of the 2018 competition.
· Serbia have never beaten United States in straight sets in a world level major competition. United States secured six of their 10 total victories against Serbia by a 3-0 scoreline.
· Four of the last seven world level major competition matches between United States and Serbia went into a fifth set. Serbia won three of those four.
United States
· United States have started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League with three victories, 3-0 over Belgium, 3-1 against Japan and 3-0 versus Bulgaria.
· United States have won 20 of their 22 VNL matches, with the only exceptions a 3-1 loss against Serbia and a five-set defeat against Turkey in 2018.
· United States have won 14 matches in straight sets at the VNL, at least six more than any other team (Turkey, Serbia, Italy follow with 8).
· Andrea Drews has produced six aces at the 2019 VNL, only Turkey's Ebrar Karakurt and Netherlands's Juliet Lohuis have churned out more (7 each).
· Sarah Wilhite (31) and Andrea Drews (30) scored most points for United States in the first week of VNL play in 2019.
Serbia
· After beating Netherlands 3-0 and Republic of Korea 3-1, Serbia suffered a straight-sets defeat against Turkey in round three.
· Serbia could lose back-to-back VNL matches for the second time, after losing 3-2 to Turkey and 3-0 to United States in the final round of the 2018 competition.
· In last year's Volleyball Nations League, Serbia also won their first two matches before suffering a 3-1 loss to Brazil in the third encounter. They went on to win their following six matches.
· Only United States (14) have registered more straight-sets VNL wins than Serbia (8).
· Tijana Boškovic has an attack success rate of 49.32%, which is the second-highest mark after one week of VNL play in 2019. Only Turkey's Ebrar Karakurt's percentage is higher: 52.94%.
Italy claimed three wins in the first week of the 2019 VNL
Italy - Dominican Republic (May 28, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Italy are unbeaten against Dominican Republic in their last three matches at world level major tournaments, since a 3-2 defeat at the 2014 World Championship.
· World level major tournaments are: Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup.
· All four of Dominican Republic's world level major tournament victories over Italy came in five sets: at the 1978 and 2014 World Championship and the 2010 and 2013 World Grand Prix (23 meetings in total).
Italy
· Italy lost five of their first seven Volleyball Nations League matches, but are unbeaten in all their 11 matches in the tournament since.
· Italy started their opening week of this year's Volleyball Nations League with a 3-2 victory over Poland and 3-0 victories over Thailand and Germany.
· Italy are one of three teams to have won each of their opening three matches of this year's tournament, alongside United States and Turkey.
· Beatrice Parrocchiale finished week one as the tournament's third-best digger, averaging 2.91 per set.
Dominican Republic
· Dominican Republic started their 2019 Volleyball Nations League tournament with 3-1 victories over Russia and Brazil before falling 3-1 to China.
· In the whole of their 2018 Volleyball Nations League campaign Dominican Republic won a total of three matches (12 defeats).
· Dominican Republic lost their first seven Volleyball Nations League matches against CEV opponents, but won their last two: a 3-1 victory over Poland in 2018 and a 3-1 victory over Russia last week.
· Only Poland's Malwina Smarzek (78) scored more points in week one than Brayelin Elizabeth Martinez (64).
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB.com - Volleyball Nations League
FIVB.com - Volleyball
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