AMES – Iowa State volleyball has battled injury problems to two key players: sophomore Nayeli Gonzalez and freshman Rachel Van Gorp. Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said both are day-to-day but are progressing well.

“I hope those guys are closer to getting ready to go,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s coming, I am just not sure when. Even if they don’t play right away, knowing that there’s that option off the bench or just know[ing] that there is one more cause sometimes we could use someone and we don’t have anyone to put in.”

Johnson-Lynch is just four wins away from having the third most in Big 12 conference history. 

To help replace Gonzalez’s offensive power, redshirt sophomore Lilly Wachholz and redshirt junior Amiree Hendricks-Walker have been holding down the fort. 

In the Big 12 opener against West Virginia, Hendricks-Walker had a career-high 18 kills along with a season-high .593 hitting percentage. In the Cyclones’ battle against 9-0 Syracuse, Wachholz stepped up tremendously, delivering a career-high 21 blocks at a dominant .395 hitting percentage. 

On the defensive end, senior Brooke Stonestreet has filled in nicely. She had back-to-back 20-plus dig matches against Syracuse and Colgate and finished with her first career double-double. 

Cincinnati is 10-2 on the year and just recently swept the Mountaineers. The Bearcats are led by Carly Glendinning, Sydney Nolan and Katelyn Lefler. 

Glendinning has 161 kills at 3.83 per set. Nolan has 138 kills at 3.29 per set. The one setting up those hitters is Lefler, as she has 446 assists at 10.62 per set. 

Cincinnati is on a seven-match win streak coming into this matchup. They have been road warriors to start the season with a 5-0 record. Iowa State leads the all-time series at 4-1. 

The match against Cincinnati starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum. The match will also be streamed live on ESPN+.