Injury is no excuse for setter Sierra Wilson; she has been playing through the pain since her preseason ankle sprain. This past weekend at the Black Knights Invitational, she earned her eighth career double-double with 45 assists and 10 digs.

“My ankle’s getting better, but my view is you just have to do what you need to do, so I’m going to play if I can,” Wilson said. “You just ignore it, I guess. You play like you’re not injured. That’s my view on things. No matter what, don’t look like you’re injured.”

Even with a sprained ankle, the sophomore managed a season high in assists. She said she’s planning on playing in the Florida International Tournament this weekend.

“I just do whatever the team needs me to do,” Wilson said. “If they need me to take a seat and rest and cheer them on, I’ll do that. If they need me to play, I’ll do that too.”

Head coach Ed Allen said the team is looking forward to Wilson’s full recovery.

“We’re still looking for Sierra Wilson to get healthy,” he said. “She’s been dealing with an ankle sprain since the fourth day of preseason. … She was pretty sore [after the tournament]. I mean, she actually wasn’t able to practice yesterday because of it. It’s been a long haul back for her, so we’re not sure when exactly she’s going to be at 100 percent.”

Wilson started playing volleyball when she was 10 years old after watching the 2004 Olympics.

“I watched Misty May and Kerri Walsh win a gold medal in beach volleyball in the Olympics that year,” she said. “That was really inspiring to me, and I knew I wanted to play volleyball then.”

Her teammates admire her competitive attitude and ability to move plays forward.

“Sierra’s great,” middle blocker Krystal Rivers said. “She’s a quarterback. She knows how to take charge.”