After a week-long break Iowa State takes on Colorado at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday amidst a five-game losing streak.
Iowa State’s offense has been held in check, mostly due to injuries to star outside hitters Nayeli Gonzalez and Maya Duckworth.
The Cyclones have had to shuffle around players in different positions. Freshman Rachel Van Gorp and junior Faith DeRonde have been moving all over the court, but taking more responsibility on offense.
In their latest match against Houston, the Cyclones were held below a .100 hitting percentage and tallied 25 attack errors. They were also out-blocked 13-4, so the bar can’t get much lower for the Cyclones to leap over.
Senior Brooke Stonestreet has been a constant at the libero position and had her 15th game in a row with double-digit kills when she had 10 against Houston.
Redshirt sophomore Lilly Wachholz was always a good outside hitter but has taken a bigger role since the injuries to Gonzalez and Duckworth. She leads the team with 215 kills at 2.95 per set.
Iowa State has struggled to block, but when sophomore Pam McCune is healthy, she is the best Cyclone blocker. She has 74 blocks at 1.10 per set.
Colorado is back in the Big 12 for volleyball, this being its first season in the conference since 2010. Colorado leads the all-time series 40-17 against Iowa State.
The last time the Cyclones and Buffaloes met, the Cyclones left with a bitter taste in their mouth, as they were eliminated in the 2013 NCAA tournament in four sets.
Colorado is led by Ana Burilović, Taylor Simpson and Cayla Payne. Burilović has 334 kills at 3.48 per set and is ninth in the Big 12 in service aces at .36 per set.
Simpson has 931 assists at 9.22 per set, putting her at eighth in the Big 12. Simpson is also 90 assists away from eclipsing 3,000 in her career. Payne has 114 blocks at 1.13 per set, ranking her sixth in the conference.
Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch is still seeking her 208th win, which would put her third all-time in the Big 12 among volleyball coaches.
The match against Colorado starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday from Hilton Coliseum and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
