Kelly Murphy (volleyball)

Murphy was born and grew up in Wilmington, Illinois to Scott and Sandy Murphy. She has two sisters: Jennifer and Mary.

Murphy attended Joliet Catholic Academy in nearby Joliet, Illinois. At Joliet Catholic, she was a star indoor volleyball player, eventually becoming the nation's top recruit for her graduating class. She won the Gatorade National Player of the Year award as a senior and was the East Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007. In her senior season, she notched 414 kills and 303 assists. She started her club volleyball career at age 11 in 2000 at Uno Volleyball Club in Joliet, Il. Later in her career, she played for Sports Performance in Aurora, Il. She went 84-0 throughout her 3 years at Sports Performance. She also played on the U.S. Junior National Team. She is 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall.

Murphy attended University of Florida on a volleyball scholarship. While there she was selected as an All-American four years in a row, becoming only player in the history of Florida volleyball to be chosen an All-American all four years of their collegiate careers. While at Florida her school's volleyball team won over 90% of its matches, posting a 107-17 overall record. The Gators won two SEC titles and reached the NCAA Elite Eight. In her freshman season in 2008, Murphy became the first player in school history to earn National Freshman of the Year and set the school record for career triple-doubles with six. As a sophomore in 2009, she set the SEC record for triple-doubles with 9. In 2010, Murphy was named a First Team All-American and earned SEC player of the year. Murphy finished her career seventh in University of Florida history in sets played (447), eighth in kills (1,306), 12th in attacks (2,729), eighth in assists (2,671), 10th in service aces (126), 14th in digs (959), 20th in block assists (253), and 10th in points (1,567.5) while registering school record 30 career triple-doubles and 76 career double-doubles.

Murphy was part of the U.S. national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when their team defeated China 3-1 in the final match.[1][2] In 2016, Murphy played for the United States women's national volleyball team that won an Olympic bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, she was part of the USA's World Championship team which finished fifth overall. Also, Murphy played professionally with clubs in Italy, Japan and China. She was not one of the twelve players named to the 2020 Olympic team.

• FIVB Biography
• gatorzone.com – Kelly Murphy