Kozani, Greece, June 16, 2016 -
Kazakhstan and Greece will meet for the first time in an official match as they face each other on opening day of the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 3 tournament in Kozani.
Head-to-Head
• Kazakhstan and Greece will meet for the first time in an official match.
• Kazakhstan have lost their last eight matches against CEV sides, taking only three sets from those matches.
• Greece are on their longest losing streak against AVC sides at the World League, as they lost against Japan in 2003 and twice versus China in 2015. All those defeats were in five sets.
Kazakhstan
• Kazakhstan return to the World League after making their debut in 2015.
• They won their first ever match in the competition against Venezuela in the Intercontinental Round of Group 3, but lost their remaining five (twice Spain, twice Egypt, once Venezuela) and eventually finished in joint 28th place.
• Kazakhstan won their last two matches at the 2015 Asian Championship against India (3-1) and Pakistan (3-0).
Greece
• Greece will participate in the World League for the 12th time.
• Their best result in the competition came in 2004, when they finished in fifth place. They finished second in their pool with later winners Brazil, Spain and Portugal, winning five of their seven matches.
• Last year, Greece returned to the World League for the first time since 2005. They finished in joint 25th place.
• Five of Greece's six matches at the 2015 World League were five-setters, including their two defeats. The exception was their straight sets win over Mexico.
• Greece could lose consecutive World League matches on home soil for the first time since the two defeats against Brazil in 2004.