The Red Wolves have played every game except its first without its two star players in 2020, as junior outside hitter Macey Putt and senior right side hitter Timber Terrell have been out of action due to injury.

In an interview with head coach Santiago Restrepo on Monday afternoon, Restrepo projected his optimism that both players could be back on the court before the Sun Belt Conference tournament in mid-November.

“They are projected to come back,” Restrepo said. “I will say that they will have another two to three weeks before they can get back into the full swing of things. They both will be available for the tournament which is really good.”

Potential injuries were also a concern last weekend against ULM, as A-State played the Warhawks in three matches over the course of two days, bearing a large load on the players.

“There’s a couple of injuries here and there, but nothing to be concerned about,” Restrepo said. “I was worried about playing three matches in two days, but we were able to manage and put people into different lineups when we had the opportunity. We did a very good job as a team of keeping everybody fresh.”

This rotation of players meant that more inexperienced players got their chance to shine and gather valuable gametime.

“We never missed a beat,” Restrepo said. “Even with the people from the bench that came in, they gave us some very valuable minutes and points and it was really good.”

Restrepo said in an interview a couple of weeks ago that Putt and Terrell combined for about 50-60 percent of hits for the Red Wolves in 2019. This has forced other offensive players like senior outside hitters Madison Brown and Paulina Sobolewska to step up along with junior right side hitter Josie Stanford.

“I think the good thing about us this year more than last year, is that we have a lot of depth,” Restrepo said. “I all the time am a firm believer that you have to step up for your team if somebody is hurt. You just have to work with what you have available. I think everyone has stepped up and we have all really gelled well together.”

A-State faces potentially its biggest challenge of the year this weekend as the Red Wolves travel to Dallas to take on UT-Arlington, a team that just beat Little Rock three times on the road last weekend.

“They are very well coached,” Restrepo said. “They are very tall and very physical. They put up a big block so it presents a little bit of a different challenge. We are going to have to maneuver the ball around them and do different things.”

The Red Wolves will open its weekend series against the Mavericks on Friday with two matches at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. before closing the weekend on Saturday at 1 p.m. All matches are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN+.

Categories: Sports