FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: Poland - Argentina (24 June) Head-to-Head · Poland have won 18 of their 20 World League matches against Argentina. · Argentina's only two wins against Poland in the competition came in the first two meetings between these teams. In 2002, Argentina beat Poland twice in straight sets. · Against no other team have Poland won more than 11 World League matches (Japan and United States). · Argentina have only lost more World League matches against Brazil (23) than versus Poland (18). Poland · Poland have won only one of their last six World League matches, the 3-1 victory over Bulgaria in their 2016 opener. · Poland have lost their last two matches both with a 3-0 scoreline and can lose three consecutive World League matches in straight sets for the second time after a four-match run on their debut in 1998. · Poland have not win in straight sets since beating Russia 3-0 on 28 May 2015 (18 matches since). · Only Dawid Konarski (10 points) reached the 10-points mark in their match against Serbia. Argentina · Argentina can lose four consecutive World League matches for the first time since a streak of 13 successive losses from 2013-2014. · Their last win came in their last match of the 2015 season, when they beat Belgium 3-2 in the Small Final. · Their result of their last six matches against CEV teams has alternated: loss against Bulgaria - win against Bulgaria - loss against Bulgaria - win against Bulgaria - loss against France - win against Belgium. · Cristian Poglajen scored a team-high 17 points in Argentina's 3-2 defeat against Iran, including a match- high four from serves. FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD LEAGUE 2016 Page 1 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: Russia - France (24 June) Head-to-Head · Russia and France will meet for the 10th time at the World League. Russia won five times, France four. · They most recently met in the World League on 24 August 2006, when Russia beat France in five sets. · Despite this being their 10th meeting Russia and France have only been paired against each other in two different World League seasons so far: four matches in 2000, five matches in 2006. · Earlier this year these teams squared off in the final of the Olympic Qualification Tournament on 10 January. Russia won 3-1. · Earlier, France had beaten Russia 3-1 in the group stages of the Olympic Qualification Tournament (6 January). Russia · Russia bounced back from their 3-0 loss against Serbia in their 2016 World League opener by beating Poland (3-0) and Bulgaria (3-1). · They can now win three matches in a row for the first time since four successive wins in 2014. · Only one of Russia's last 13 World League matches ended in five sets, as they lost 3-2 to Poland on 20 June 2015. · Four Russian players scored 10 or more points in their last match against Bulgaria: Kostyantyn Bakun (20), Dmitriy Muserskiy (14), Alexander Markin (10) and Egor Kliuka (10). France · France lost their last match of the opening weekend 3-2 to Belgium, ending a streak of four wins at the World League. · They can lose consecutive World League matches for the first time since a streak of four losses in 2013. · France have lost only two of their last 21 World League matches, 3-1 against United States in the 2015 group stage and the aforementioned loss to Belgium. · Kevin Tillie was France's top scorer in their match against Belgium, scoring 20 points, including 19 from spikes. FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD LEAGUE 2016 Page 1 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: Poland - Russia (25 June) Head-to-Head · Poland and Russia have met each other at the World League 22 times. Poland have won eight times, Russia 14 times. · Poland had won their last four World League matches with Russia before Russia beat them 3-0 last weekend (18 June). · Russia can now beat Poland in consecutive World League meetings for the second time, after a streak of 10 wins from 1998-2001. · Russia's Kostyantyn Bakun finished as top scorer in their match last weekend with 14 points. Poland's Dawid Konarski finished second with 13 points. Poland · Poland have won two and lost two of their 2016 World League matches. · They can win two in a row for the first time since beating Iran and USA in June and July 2015. · Poland have won 11 of their 16 competitive matches in 2016. · Mateusz Bieniek has seven blocks and an average of 0.7 per set. · Bartosz Bednorz has a 47% efficiency as receiver. Russia · Russia have suffered two straight-set defeats in the 2016 World League. They have also won one match by a 3-0 score, against Poland. · Russia have already claimed more wins in the 2016 World League, two, than they had in the 2015 campaign, one win. · They have won six of their nine competitive matches in 2016. · Dmitriy Muserskiy has 67.3% success with his spikes, most of all players in Group 1. His teammate Kostyantyn Bakun is second with 58.3%. FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD LEAGUE 2016 Page 1 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: France - Argentina (25 June) Head-to-Head · France and Argentina will meet for the 20th time at the World League. France have won 11 matches, Argentina eight. · France have won six of their last seven World League matches against Argentina, the only exception being the 3-2 loss on 27 June 2014. · Their most recent meeting was the 2015 semifinal in Group 2, which France won 3-0. · At the 2014 World Championship France beat Argentina 3-1 in the Second Round. France · France recovered from their 3-2 loss against Belgium by beating Russia 3-0. It was their third win in four matches in the 2016 World League. · All three wins came by a 3-0 score. In 2015, France recorded 11 wins in straight sets in the World League. · Antonin Rouzier (42) and Kevin Tillie (40) are France's top scorers. Tillie also has a 57.4% efficiency as receiver. · Benjamin Toniutti has an average of 12.4 setups per set. · Jenia Grebennikov has 2.7 digs per set. Argentina · Argentina have yet to win for the first time in the 2016 World League. · They claimed their first win of last year's World League campaign in their first match. · They have lost the opening set in each of their four matches this World League and they won the third set in three of the four encounters.. · Cristian Poglajen (53), Bruno Lima (51) and Sebastian Solé (48) are their top scorers. · Luciano De Cecco has an average of 6.8per set as setter. FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD LEAGUE 2016 Page 1 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: Argentina - Russia (26 June) Head-to-Head · Argentina and Russia will meet for the first time at the World League. · Their last meeting at a major tournament was at the 2015 World Cup. Russia won 3-1. · At the 2000 Summer Olympics these teams met in the semifinal. Russia won 3-1, but lost the final to Yugoslavia. Argentina lost the bronze medal match to Italy. Argentina · Argentina beat reigning champions France 3-2 on Saturday, ending a four-match losing streak. · The win over France was Argentina's first win at the 2016 World League and their first win since beating Belgium 3-2 in the Small Final in 2015. · Five players reached double figures in Argentina's match against France: Sebastian Solé (19), Cristian Poglajen (18), Ezequiel Palacios (14) Pablo Crer (12) and Nicolas Bruno (11). Russia · Russia beat Poland 3-1 on Saturday. Victor Poletaev became Russia's top scorer with 19 points. · Russia have won three of their last four World League matches, the exception being the 3-0 loss to France on 24 June. · Russia's last nine World League matches have not ended in five sets, since the 3-2 loss to Poland on 20 June 2015. · Russia lost their last World League match against a CSV team, the 3-1 defeat to Brazil in 2014. FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD LEAGUE 2016 Page 1 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE PREVIEWS WEEK 2 – JUNE 23-26, 2016 Pool D1: Poland - France (26 June) Head-to-Head · Poland have lost their last three World League matches versus France, including last year's semifinal. · They last beat France on 11 July 2007, 3-2 in the Group Stage. · The last four World League meetings between these teams all ended in five sets. · In total these teams have met 10 times at the World League. Poland have won four times and France six times. Poland · Poland lost 3-1 to Russia on Saturday. Bartosz Kurek scored a match-high 21 points. · Poland have lost three of their last four World League matches, the exception being the 3-1 win over Argentina on 24 June. · Three of Poland's last four losses at the World League came by a 3-0 score line. France · France lost 3-2 to Argentina on Saturday, their second loss at the 2016 World League. · In 2015 France only lost one World League match. In 2014 they lost three matches. · Four of their last five losses came by a 3-2 score line. The other was the 3-1 defeat to United States in 2015. · Antonin Rouzier scored 29 points in the match against Argentina, 10 more than any other player of both teams.