LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska soccer player Kori Saunders' future remains unclear after returning home from the hospital last week.

Saunders was injured Aug. 10 after a glass and wooden table she was sitting on collapsed, causing an eight-inch shard of glass to pierce her back. The piece of glass cut her ureter and chipped a vertebrae, narrowly missing several vital organs.

The sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., will be resting at home with her mother for the next week, and she must remain inactive for the next six weeks. Despite the inactivity, it has yet to be determined whether Saunders will redshirt the season.

"We don't know," coach John Walker said. "We'll wait to see. She's ordered to bed rest now, so she's a long way from doing anything."

Two weeks ago, it was uncertain whether she would ever play soccer again.

After morning practice, many players from the team gathered at teammates Brooke Jones' and Paige Phillips' apartment to play Super Mario Bros. before afternoon practice.

"We were trying to kill some time," Jones said. "Anything but sleep."

So to see the television better, Saunders took a seat on the coffee table in front of the television. A few moments later, the table broke, crashing to the ground.

"At first, we all kind of laughed, and Kori did too," Phillips said. "We didn't realize anything was wrong until she hit the ground and screamed."

After her deafening scream, Saunders reached behind her and pulled out the knife-like slab of glass. Quickly, Phillips and teammate Christine Latham rushed to Saunders' side rolling her onto her stomach and applied gauze to the gash.

"Until I saw the wound, until I saw it. That was when we realized we had to call 911," Phillips said.

It appears Saunders has escaped serious long-term damage. The piece of glass missed all main arteries, her kidney and her spinal cord, which could have left her paralyzed.

Saunders will meet with doctors during the first week of September to determine when she can resume physical activity. Phillips said Saunders was aiming for a return to the playing field this season.

"Of course she is," Phillips said. "She's a really strong person. She'll do whatever she has to do to get back."

While Walker remains optimistic, he said the seriousness of the injury means the team will prepare for the season without her.

"She certainly will be an impact player here," Walker said. "We'll have to see if it's this fall or not."

Story written by Jamie Suhr of the Daily Nebraskan.