Gonzalez Earns Big 12 Rookie of the Week

AMES, Iowa – Nayeli Gonzalez has been named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for her dominant outings against No. 18 Baylor, announced by the conference Tuesday. It is the San Antonio, Texas native's first league honor of her young career.

Gonzalez hit 34 kills efficiently at .422 hitting and averaged 4.25 per set through the series. The freshman led the Cyclones to the 42^nd ranked victory under Christy Johnson-Lynch with her 24 kills at elite hitting of .475 percent on Sept. 30.

Gonzalez is the first Iowa State freshman to have a 20-plus kill performance since Jess Schaben in 2015. It is also the fifth match since 2014 for a Cyclone to total 20 kills at over .400 hitting.

Gonzalez added 10 digs, two aces and two blocks to her Baylor series totals. The outside hitter has now hit 162 kills to lead the team, while totaling 87 digs, 28 blocks and 17 aces on the season. Through two weeks of conference play, Gonzalez ranks third in the Big 12 with a hitting percentage of .396.

Gonzalez returns to the court this Friday, Oct. 6 as the No. 25 Cyclones host Texas Tech. Tickets are available here.