Kallie Larsen / Staff Photographer

It was all planned out.

Hannah Evans would be joining the San Diego State volleyball team after graduating from Kingwood High School in Texas. But in an instant, that plan changed.

On the first day of summer after her senior year, Evans fell in her club volleyball team’s practice and broke her ankle. The injury required surgery and she would have to redshirt in her freshman campaign at SDSU.

“It was hard,” the junior outside hitter said. “It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done because you have to start completely over after working so hard.”

It may have been difficult for Evans, but all her work paid off the following season in 2007. She started in 28 of the Aztecs’ 29 matches and made an impact right away. In the opening week of the season, Evans notched consecutive double-doubles against UCSB and Long Island with 12 kills and 17 digs against the Gauchos and 15 kills and 16 digs against the Blackbirds.

“I trained all summer to be in there,” Evans said. “And it was good; I got that feeling back, the incentive and the drive. So it was a lot of fun.”

Evans may have played a big role for SDSU in her sophomore year, but her role was slightly reduced last year. She played in only 14 of the Aztecs’ 26 matches and started just once. Evans kept at it though, and found her way back into the starting lineup this season.

But another obstacle came her way. She lost the starter role for a couple of games.
Evans admitted it was frustrating, but her determination allowed her to get back in the lineup.

“I was in the gym focused, working really hard, trying to regain my starting spot,” Evans said.

“We have a really stacked team, especially in the outside hitting position. We can have anyone come in at anytime. It’s good and it’s also really competitive, so it always keeps you on your toes.”

SDSU will hit the road this week to start the second half of Mountain West Conference play when it takes on UNLV at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Cox Pavilion. The Rebels are coming off a 3-0 win against New Mexico. Still, UNLV (5-11, 3-5 in MWC play) has struggled this season and had lost its last four MWC matches before picking up the victory against the Lobos. The Aztecs (8-10, 3-5 in MWC play), on the other hand, have won their last two conference matches and will look to make it three in a row against UNLV.