There were a lot of ways senior Laura DeBruler’s volleyball career could have ended.

She may have been an All-American again, or won a prestigious volleyball award. DeBruler had hopes of leading the No. 8 Illini to the Big Ten Conference Championships, to the Final Four, to possibly the national crown.

And these hopes are still in existence for the team, but DeBruler won’t be out there with them, slamming down kills and putting fear in opponents’ eyes.

Instead, she will be watching from the sidelines.

Head coach Kevin Hambly confirmed Tuesday that DeBruler’s Illinois volleyball career is over, due to an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

“It’s sad for her especially, it’s a tough way to end her career. It’s something you never think about,” senior Hillary Haen said. “You don’t think you’re going to end early due to injury.”

It was the outcome that no one expected.

Not even Saturday night, when DeBruler hit her shoulder on an officials stand during the third set of a Big Ten match at Michigan.

“Because the initial tests said it wasn’t necessarily going to be the case,” Hambly said. “But as sometimes when you get injuries, you protect them. There’s a lot of stress tests that they do. I think initially it was like, ‘OK good,’ we thought it was an LCL (lateral ligament).”

Hambly said everyone started to worry Monday, when there was a strong feeling that her ACL was torn. The head coach was happy, though, that DeBruler’s future career isn’t in jeopardy because of the injury.

“The good thing was, that (the ACL injury) was the only damage,” Hambly said.

Haen said DeBruler was shocked when she first found out.

“You know, of course, the emotions hit, she was very upset about it,” Haen said. “I think it will kind of go in waves of being OK with it and being upset about it. She has her head on right, she’s ready to help the team in any way she can.

“She knows that there’s nothing she can do about what’s going on and she just has to keep a positive attitude. I think considering the circumstances, she’s handling it very well.”

The team is confident that it can rebuild and adjust to not having DeBruler in the lineup. This is the second ACL injury on the team this season, with freshman Anna Dorn tearing hers while playing against Florida A&M; on Sept. 4.

The Illini are more worried about how she is doing personally than anything else.

“I think everyone’s in the same boat as me that it’s more just heartbreaking for Laura because she’s done,” Hambly said. “That’s not the way you want anyone to end their career. I think the team’s more worried about Laura than they are about how they are going to play.”

He said it was no question that this would be a hard time for DeBruler.

“How would you hold up?” Hambly asked. “She’s having a hard time and rightfully so — that’s a hard way to have your career end.”

DeBruler ends her Illini career ranked first in all-time kills and attacks with 1,833 and 4,806, respectively, and seventh in all-time digs with 1,117. She finished with 36 20-kill matches, which also tops the Illini record books. DeBruler is a two-time All-American and a two-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection.

And this does not mean the end of her volleyball career.

“Her career’s not over unless she wants it to be,” Hambly said. “We’ll take good care of her and get her rehabbed so she can play in August on some professional team. Where that is, no one knows.”

For now, she will have to watch and mentor the team and freshman Jazmine Orozco, who will take her place.

“It’s going to be good to have her here,” Orozco said. “Even if she can’t be on the court, to be here off the court, giving us that reassurance and wisdom and advice.”