Kelly Murphy Named SEC Offensive Player of the Week
Monday, October 19, 2009 | Volleyball
Sophomore Florida right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) has been named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for her strong performances in a pair of road victories at Auburn and Georgia this past weekend, the league offices in Birmingham, Ala., announced Monday.
Murphy was impressive during the road sweeps, finishing the weekend with 26 total kills for an average of 4.33 kills per set on a stellar .600 hitting efficiency. She also averaged 5.83 assists per set, 3.17 digs per set and 1.00 blocks per set.
On Friday night in a 3-0 win at Auburn, Murphy charted her 11th career triple-double and her fifth this season, doing so in just three sets with 11 kills on 16 swings with no errors for a season-best .688 hitting efficiency with 19 assists and 12 digs. That ties Murphy with Northeastern's Jessica Tkachuk for the NCAA Division I lead in triple-doubles this season.
Murphy followed up that performance with a match-high 15 kills on .542 hitting against Georgia to complement 16 assists and seven digs, leaving her just three digs shy of her second consecutive triple-double.
On the weekend, Murphy dished out 5.83 assists per set, helping the Gators to a .365 team hitting efficiency. Florida hit .361 against Auburn and .368 against Georgia. Additionally, Murphy averaged 1.00 blocks per set this weekend, as the team held a 21.5-6 advantage in rejections this weekend.
For the season, Murphy is the only player to currently rank in the SEC's top 10 for both hitting percentage and assists per set. She is fifth in the league with a .348 hitting efficiency, while ranking eighth in assists per set with 6.26. Murphy also is third on the team with 3.08 kills per set and averages 2.23 digs per set and 0.61 blocks per set.
The honor is the second in Murphy's career after being named the SEC Player of the Week on Sept. 29, 2008, a week in which she also was named the AVCA's National Player of the Week.
Murphy and the Gators return to action on Friday when they play host to Arkansas. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and Missy Whittemore and on WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett.
For all of the latest information on Florida Volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow the Gators on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
The University of Florida is home to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regional. For ticket information, log on to www.GatorZone.com/tickets.
SEC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK – WEEK 8
SEC Offensive Player of the Week – Kelly Murphy, Florida
SEC Defensive Player of the Week – Chloe Goldman, Tennessee
SEC Freshman of the Week – Stephanie Klefot, Kentucky
END OF REPORT
