Bangkok, Thailand, July 6, 2016 - Brazil shut out hosts Thailand on the first day of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016 Group 1 finals, but their next challenge may prove way tougher as they face Russia on Thursday.
Head-to-Head
• This will be the 30th World Grand Prix encounter between Russia and Brazil. Brazil won 17 times against 12 wins for Russia.
• For Russia, Brazil will become the opponents they have faced most often at the World Grand Prix surpassing Japan and China (both 29).
• Brazil have only played more World Grand Prix matches against Japan (39) and China (36).
• Their most recent meeting in the competition came in the final round of the 2015 edition. Russia won in straight sets, breaking their six-match losing streak against Brazil (longest streak between these two at World Grand Prix).
• The last time Russia won consecutive World Grand Prix matches against Brazil was in 1999-2000 (4 matches), which included the final of 1999 (3-0).
Russia
• Russia have won eight of their nine World Grand Prix matches in 2016, only losing against Serbia (3-2).
• Only twice they lost at most 1 match in a single World Grand Prix campaign: in 1997 and 1999 they won all of their World Grand Prix matches.
• In 2002, when they won their third and most recent World Grand Prix, they won 11 matches and lost two.
• Nataliya Goncharova is the top scorer in Group 1 with 185 points.
• Irina Zaryazhko (44) and Goncharova (24) have scored most points from blocks in Group 1 of the World Grand Prix.
Brazil
• Brazil beat Thailand 3-0 on Wednesday and have now won their last four matches at the World Grand Prix.
• In total, their record at the 2016 World Grand Prix is eight wins and two defeats.
• The last time Brazil lost more than two matches in a single campaign was in 2010 (3).
• Natalia Pereira leads her teammates in scoring with a total of 124 points. She scored 99 points from spikes, 19 from stuff blocks and six from serve.
• Pereira scored 23 points against Thailand, at least 13 points more than any other player.