Beau Bearden, Senior Staff Writer
The injury bug has hit the San Diego State volleyball team for the second time this season.
After already losing senior middle blocker Lauren Salisbury for the season, SDSU didn’t have starting outside hitter Raegan Shelton in the lineup for Air Force and UNLV last weekend.
Though according to Shelton, it’s not serious, just a back injury.
“I think I hurt it in practice last week,” Shelton said. “I’m not sure though.”
Shelton doesn’t think she’ll miss any more time, unless head coach Deitre Collins-Parker decides to rest her for a little longer.
The Aztecs won’t necessarily need her for their next match, a non-conference contest against UC Riverside at 7 p.m. tonight in Peterson Gym.
Freshman outside hitter Summer Nash started in her place last weekend and fit
in nicely.
“I thought Summer stepped up and did a good job,” Collins-Parker said.
Nash notched 12 kills against Air Force last Thursday and on Saturday had a .360 attack percentage along with another 12 kills in SDSU’s 3-0 win against UNLV.
Shelton has been just as much of a force, ranking third on the team with 140 kills and also hitting .269 this year.
Whoever ends up playing, the Aztecs will need all the offense they can get against a pair of tough Mountain West Conference opponents this weekend.
Wyoming’s MWC record of 4-4 isn’t very respectable, but a 19-5 overall record shows it’s been successful this season. Earlier this year, SDSU dropped a 3-0 decision in Laramie, Wyo. and will be looking for a win at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Peterson Gym.
In order to do so, the Aztecs will need to improve their offensive performance from the Oct. 2 contest where they hit -.009 as a team.
“We can’t blame it all on the elevation,” junior outside hitter Paije Pearson said. “But I think that may have been a tiny part of the problem. But for the most part, I think it was a matter of focus. Wyoming came ready to play that day and we were just lagging a little bit.”
After facing off against the Cowgirls, SDSU will then battle the Rams at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Peterson Gym. This contest looks to be even bigger for the Aztecs, after they dropped a tough 3-2 decision on Sept. 30 in Fort Collins, Colo.
“I think at this point in the season, every game is huge,” Pearson said. “But it’s always fun to play CSU. They’re a great team and the fact that we came up just a little bit short against them last time is going to make us fight that much harder.”
