Lausanne, Switzerland, July 14, 2017 - Italy are riding high afetr their win over China on Friday when they face reigning world champions USA Saturday in Macau. But USA are now the only undefeated side in the 2017 FIVB World Grand Prix (after Serbia's loss on Friday to Brazil). USA and Italy meet for the 20th time in World Grand Prix history, with the Americans leading the series 11-8.
Head-to-Head• United States have won 11 of the 19 World Grand Prix meetings with Italy, including eight of the last nine.
• These nations also met at the Olympic Games last year, with USA winning 3-1 in the group stages.
• Italy defeated USA 3-2 in the final of the 2002 World Championships in Germany.
• USA have won eight of the last 10 meetings with Italy in all major tournaments, dating back to the 2011 World Grand Prix.
United States• United States have won their first four matches of the 2017 World Grand Prix.
• The last time United States started a World Grand Prix season with a streak of five victories was in 2015, when they won their first eight matches.
• Also considering last season United States have won 13 of their last 14 matches, with the sole exception their 3-2 loss in the 2016 final against Brazil.
• United States beat Turkey 3-1 on Friday. Michelle Bartsch-Hackley scored a match-high 17 points, while opponents Turkey did not have a single player in their ranks who scored more than 10 points.
Italy• Italy beat China 3-0 on Friday, only their second straight sets win at the World Grand Prix in their last 20 matches.
• Italy have now won back-to-back matches. They can record three successive wins for the first time since July 2015, when they beat Belgium, Turkey and Japan respectively.
• Paola Egonu scored a match-high 20 points in Italy's victory over China.