Sapporo, Japan, September 30, 2018 - Cuba and Bulgaria are meeting for the fifth time at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship and the former are eyeing to claim their fourth straight win against the European squad.
Head-to-Head
• Cuba and Bulgaria will meet for the fifth time at the World Championship.
• Bulgaria won the first meeting 3-0 in 1970. This was Cuba's first-ever match at the World Championship.
• Cuba won the next three encounters at the World Championships, 3-0 in 1986, 3-1 in 1998 and 3-2 in 2002.
• The last time these two teams met at a world level major competition was at the 2013 World Grand Prix - Bulgaria won 3-0.
• The women's world level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and Nations League.
Cuba
• Cuba opened their 2018 campaign with a straight set loss against China, the 2014 runners-up.
• Cuba have now lost their last eight matches at the World Championship, their worst run in the competition.
• Cuba are one shy of 75 wins at World Championships. They currently are on 74 wins and 32 defeats.
• Diaris Perez Ramos (13) and Ailama Cese Montalvo (12) paced Cuba in their 49-point effort against China.
Bulgaria
• Bulgaria started their World Championship with a 3-0 defeat against Italy.
• In 2014, Bulgaria started their campaign with defeats against Brazil and Serbia before beating Turkey in their third encounter.
• Bulgaria have never started a World Championship with consecutive straight set defeats.
• Nasya Dimitrova led her team in scoring with nine points on Saturday. Mariya Karakasheva was the only Bulgarian player with at least one point from spikes (6), blocks (1) and serves (1).