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 on Friday night in the season opener against No. 19 Purdue University, could miss up to four weeks with a 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 evaluated 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," Boos said. "We're keeping her on a week to week evaluation. We need her and I'm optimistic she'll be back before the end of the year."
Making things more difficult for the 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 additional time, if any. 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 Friday in the Active Ankle Challenge against IPFW at 7:30 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
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