Murphy Captures Gatorade National Player Of The Year Honors
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 | Volleyball
University of Florida incoming freshman Kelly Murphy (Joliet, Ill.) has been named the 2007-08 Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year, the company announced late Monday.
The 6-2 setter/opposite hitter from Joliet Catholic Academy is the first UF signee to ever win the award, which recognizes athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the court. Murphy joins a select group of National Players of the Year that includes Kerri Walsh (1995-96), Logan Tom (1998-99) and Ogonna Nnamani (2000-01), among others.
Ranked as the nation's top recruit by PrepVolleyball.com, the versatile Murphy led the USA Junior National Team to a fourth-place finish at the 2007 FIVB Junior National World Championships, earning the Best Server award in the process.
She guided her club team, Sports Performance, to the 18-Open national title at the 2007 Junior Olympics, as well as the 16-Open title in 2006, earning MVP honors at both events. She also helped orchestrate consecutive AAU national championships for Sports Performance in 2006 and 2007, while collecting MVP honors for her efforts during the first title run.
Murphy, a two-time PrepVolleyball.com All-American, capped a decorated high school career by leading Joliet Catholic Academy to a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title, as well as its fourth-straight regional crown and third-consecutive sectional championship. She earned Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year honors in 2007, while also collecting the accolade from the Joliet Herald for the third year in a row and the SECC for the second-straight season. A three-time SECC all-conference pick, Murphy also received all-area recognition from the Joliet Herald following each of her four high school campaigns and claimed the same honor from the Chicago Sun-Times from 2005-07. The Champaign News-Gazette named her an all-state performer and its Player of the Year in 2006, while the Chicago Tribune added an all-area nod the same year. Named one of Volleyball Magazine's 25 Underclassmen to Watch following her junior season, she was one of 15 finalists for PrepVolleyball.com Junior of the Year in 2006, as well as one of 20 final nominees for the organization's Sophomore of the Year award in 2005.
A national advisory board of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the country selected Murphy as the National Player of the Year from a pool of more than 390,000 high school volleyball players across the country. She was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year for Illinois earlier in the month.
Murphy is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade High School Female Athlete of the Year Award, to be presented prior to the ESPY Awards in July.
- UF –
