Russia meet Kenya for the second time

· Russia defeated Kenya 3-0 at the 2002 world championships in their only encounter against each other in a major competition.

· Kenya have lost all their previous 10 World Cup matches against CEV opponents, including nine in straight sets. Only against Serbia in 2011, they avoided a 3-0 defeat (3-1).

· Russia (including Soviet Union) have won both their previous two World Cup matches against CAVB nations. In 1985 and 1999, they beat Tunisia, on both occasions in straight sets.  

· Russia have started their World Cup campaign with two victories, first beating the Dominican Republic in straight sets on Saturday and then going the distance against Japan on Sunday.

· Russia join China as the only teams to start out with two victories in this World Cup.

· Against Japan, Russia won the majority of sets (3-2), but Japan posted the majority of points (102-100).

· Kenya have lost their first two matches at this World Cup, 3-1 against Cuba and 3-0 against the Dominican Republic.

· Even though they have not picked up a table point yet, the Kenyans were competitive in both defeats. Five of the six sets they have lost were surrendered by a margin of three points or less.

· Still, Kenya's losing streak at the World Cup increases. They have now lost 25 straight in the competition after defeating Egypt 3-0 in 1995.