The coaching staff and team doctors are being cautiously optimistic on the condition of Ball State University starting libero Alyssa Rio.
Rio, who was injured Friday night in the season opener against No. 19 Purdue University, could miss up to four weeks with an hamstring injury, Ball State coaches said Tuesday.
Rio was injured when she planted to field a ball and her leg came out from underneath her.
"There is no air conditioning in Purdue's facility," assistant coach Hugh Hernesman said. "We think she may have just hit a slick spot on the floor when she went to plant."
Initial reports were that Rio was anticipated to miss significant time and that a combination of Christie Waters, Hannah Sullivan, and Kaylee Schembra would fill in for her.
Tuesday morning coach Dave Boos confirmed that team doctors have looked over Rio and are calling her injury a hamstring pull. Boos was upbeat however, when talking about Rio's condition.
"We still expect her to miss time. We're keeping her on a week to week evaluation," Boos said. "I'm optimistic though. We need her and I'm optimistic she'll be back before the end of the year."
The current anticipated estimation of time Rio will miss is three to four weeks.
Making things more difficult for team was the loss of Sullivan over the weekend. Sullivan re-injured her back and is listed as day to day. She isn't expected to miss much time, if any at all. The coaching staff will be cautious with her injury though.
"We're going to make sure Hannah is rested and ready before playing her," Boos said. "There are no indications of this being a long-term thing, so we're hopeful that Hannah will be ready to go this weekend."
The Cardinals return to action this Friday in the Active Ankle Challenge against IPFW at 7:30 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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