Tokyo, Japan, May 18, 2016 - Japan are the clear favourite in their match against the Dominican Republic at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament on Friday. They have won their last nine matches against the Caribbean nation, which is still looking for its first victory at the tournament in Tokyo.
Head-to-head
• Japan have won each of their last nine meetings with the Dominican Republic at world-level tournaments, including a 3-0 win at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
• The Dominican Republic's last win came at the 2009 Grand Champions Cup (3-1), which followed a straight-set win at the 2008 World Grand Prix.
• Two of their last three meetings were decided in a five-setter (both won by Japan). These came at the 2014 World Championship and 2015 World Cup.
Dominican Republic
• The Dominican Republic are eyeing their first win at the World Olympic Qualification tournament since winning their last three matches of the 2008 edition.
• They have now lost five competitive matches in a row, directly following four successive wins at last year's NORCECA Championships.
• Elizabeth Brayelin Martinez has been the Dominican Republic's top scorer in all four matches at this World Olympic Qualification tournament. She scored a total of 73 points so far.
• She is one of four players with more than 70 points in the competition, alongside Lonneke Slöetjes (NED, 87), Kim Yeon-Koung (KOR, 82) and Angela Leyva (PER, 81).
Japan
• Japan won their last World Olympic Qualification match against Thailand (3-2). It was the first five-setter of this year's competition.
• Japan have now won three of their four matches at this year's tournament. They won at least four in each of their last three participations at the World Olympic Qualification tournament.
• Only Lonneke Sloetjes (56.8%) has a better success percentage of spikes than Yuki Ishii (49.4%)
• Haruka Miyashita is currently the best setter in the competition with an average of 11.47 per set. Niverka Dharlenis Marte Frica (DOM) follows with 8.62 per set.
• Japan also currently have the best receiver in the competition as Saori Kimura has an efficiency of 70.6%.
• Arisa Sato has 47 digs so far in the competition, joint-most alongside Piyanut Pannoy (THA).