Kelly Murphy (born October 20, 1989) is an American indoor volleyball player for the

United States women's national volleyball team The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. The current head coach is three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant beac ...

. Murphy played collegiate volleyball with the University of Florida Gators from 2008 to 2011. Murphy won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Personal life

Born to Scott and Sandy Murphy in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and h ...

suburb of Wilmington, Illinois, Kelly was raised with her two sisters, Jennifer and Mary. Murphy would attend

Joliet Catholic Academy Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet Catholic or JCA) is a coed Catholic high school in Joliet, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. One of the oldest Catholic high schools in the Chicago area, Joliet Catholic is perhaps bes ...

in nearby

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. Hist ...

, where she began being recruited by college volleyball coaches in her freshman year. She was considered to be the nation's top high school recruit in her class and was named National Gatorade High School Player of the Year her senior year.

College

Murphy played college women's volleyball at

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. In her freshman season in 2008, Murphy made Florida history, as she was named the program's first ever AVCA National Freshman of the Year. In addition, she was named the SEC Freshman of the Year as well as the AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year and set the school record for career triple-doubles. She also became Florida's first ever freshman to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. As a sophomore in 2009, Murphy was named a Second Team All-American and was also a unanimous first Team All-SEC pick. In her junior year playing for Florida, 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.

International

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. 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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Japan and China. She was not one of the twelve players named to the 2020 Olympic team.

Awards

College

* ''2008 AVCA All-American Third Team'' * ''2009 AVCA All-American Second Team'' * '' 2009 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament Gainesville regional All-Tournament Team'' * ''2010 AVCA All-American First Team'' * ''2011 AVCA All-American First Team'' * ''

2011 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 1, 2011 and ended on December 17 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas when UCLA defeated Illinois 3 sets to 1 in the national championship match. Qualifying teams Records ...

Gainesville regional All-Tournament Team''

Individual

* ''2007

Women's Junior Volleyball World Championship The FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship is the world championship of volleyball for female players under the age of 21 organized by ''Fédération Internationale de Volleyball'' (FIVB). The first tournament was staged in 1977 FIVB Voll ...

- Best Server'' * '' 2013 NORCECA Championship "Most Valuable Player"'' * '' 2013 NORCECA Championship "Best Opposite"'' * ''2015 V.Premier League - Best Server''

National team

* 2013

Pan-American Volleyball Cup Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

* 2013

NORCECA Championship * 2013 Silver medal with cup

FIVB World Grand Champions Cup * 2014 Gold medal with cup

FIVB World Championship * 2015 Gold medal with cup

FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was an annual women's volleyball competition created in 1993. The men's version of the competition was called World League. This event should not be confused with the other international volleyball competitio ...

* 2016

Summer Olympics * 2018 Gold medal with cup

FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League The FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament took place between May a ...

References

External links

FIVB Biographygatorzone.com – Kelly Murphy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Kelly 1989 births Living people American women's volleyball players People from Wilmington, Will County, Illinois Sportspeople from Will County, Illinois Florida Gators women's volleyball players Opposite hitters Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in volleyball Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Expatriate volleyball players in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Japan American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate sportspeople in Japan University of Florida alumni Setters (volleyball) Expatriate volleyball players in China American expatriate sportspeople in China Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players 21st-century American sportswomen