Kelly Murphy Named AVCA National Player of the Week
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 | Volleyball
Junior Florida right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) was named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week for her outstanding performance at the Runza/AVCA Showcase, it was announced Tuesday by the Lexington, Ky., based organization.
Murphy earns the award for the second time in her career after also being named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week as a freshman on Sept. 30, 2008. She is just the second player in school history to earn the award twice in her career, as Aycan Gokberk garnered the same recognition twice during the 1995 campaign. In UF school history, seven Gators have earned nine National Player of the Week honors from the AVCA.
Murphy helped lead the Gators to a pair of wins against top-10 teams, as Florida defeated No. 9 Iowa State and No. 2 Nebraska. She was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 3.00 kills per set on .400 hitting with 5.44 assists per set, 2.00 digs per set and 0.56 blocks per set over the course of the weekend for an average of 3.50 points per set.
Murphy was nearly unstoppable in the Gators' upset of second-ranked Nebraska. She turned in her 16th career triple-double on Sunday, tying her career high with 20 kills on .514 hitting with 23 assists, 10 digs and three blocks for 22.5 total points.
Against ninth-ranked Iowa State, Murphy posted seven kills, 26 assists, eight digs and two block solos. She played every point of every rotation for the Gators during their nine sets this past weekend, setting and attacking in a 6-2 offensive scheme.
The national recognition comes one day after Murphy was named the Southeastern Conference's Offensive Player of the Week.
Murphy and the Gators return to action on Friday when they play host to the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational. Florida will face Albany at 12:30 p.m. ET in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center and the match will be carried live on GatorZone.com with Cory Stephens.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/volleyball. Follow Florida Volleyball on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorZoneVB and Coach Mary Wise on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GatorMary.
FLORIDA PLAYERS NAMED AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31, 2010 – Kelly Murphy – Jr., S/RS
Sept. 30, 2008 – Kelly Murphy – Fr., S/RS
Nov. 6, 2006 – Elyse Cusack – Fr., L
Sept. 4, 2000 – Nicole McCray - So., MB
Nov. 23, 1998 – Heather Wright – So., MB
Sept. 7, 1998 – Jenny Manz – Jr., RS
Sept. 1, 1997 – Nina Foster – Sr., MB
Oct. 30, 1995 – Aycan Gokberk – Sr., MB
Sept. 11, 1995 – Aycan Gokberk – Sr., MB
