Samoilovs and Smedins lead the FIVB series 3-1 with the two teams meeting each other at three SWATCH Major Series stops in 2016. The Latvians have won the last two matches, including a 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 15-10) quarter-final win in 48 minutes on July 30 at the A1 Major Klagenfurt in Austria.
MATCH PREVIEW
MATCH NOTES
• LAT leads the series 4-1, which includes a LAT win in the 2015 European Championships semifinals
• Twice the match went three sets, with LAT coming from behind to win both times
• In each of the five tournaments in which these two teams have met, the winning team has gone on to win a medal
• Eight countries in the Rio Olympics fielded two men’s teams, and NED and RUS were the only countries to have both teams place fifth or better (led by Brouwer / Meeuwsen’s bronze medal)
• NED has fared well against top teams… in their partnership Brouwer and Meeuwsen have an 11-8 mark against teams seeded first, second or third, but they have lost their last four matches against those teams
• LAT has a 60-22 record this season, including 33-10 in pool play and 19-13 in three-set matches
• LAT began the year 25-5 in pool play matches in its first 10 tournaments, but has gone 8-5 in it its last four-plus events
• This season NED has a 45-16 match record, including 25-6 in pool play and 13-8 in three-set matches