Lausanne, Switzerland, July 4, 2017 - Colombia and the Czech Republic meet in their first ever FIVB World Grand Prix head-to-head when they clash Friday in Chiclayo. Te South Americans have come up against European opposition only once before, losing to Croatia in straight sets last year.
Head-to-Head• Czech Republic and Colombia will meet for the first time at the World Grand Prix.
• Czech Republic are unbeaten in their World Grand Prix matches against teams representing the South American Volleyball Federation. They beat Argentina twice.
• Colombia have lost their only previous World Grand Prix meeting with a European side, 3-0 against Croatia.
Czech Republic• Czech Republic will participate for the fifth time in the World Grand Prix. Their best result came in their debut year, a 14th place in 2013.
• Czech Republic are one of 13 countries to have a positive balance in the World Grand Prix (ahead of tournament) as they have won 16 and lost 15 of their matches.
• Czech Republic have won two of their four opening matches, 3-0 against Puerto Rico in 2013 and 3-1 against Croatia in 2014.
Colombia• Colombia will be present at the World Grand Prix for the third time, after placing 23rd in 2015 and 24th in 2016.
• Colombia (W10-L6) and Brazil (W238-L56) are the only South American teams with a positive balance in the competition (ahead of the tournament).
• Nine of Colombia's 10 World Grand Prix victories have come in straight sets with the exception of the 3-1 win against Kazakhstan last year. They have yet to win a five-setter.