U.S. National Team member Kelly Murphy is taking a break from competitive volleyball to finish her undegraduate degree at the University of Florida, USA Volleyball announced this week.
The 6’2″ outside hitter was on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team that took a bronze medal with a 3-1 win over the Netherlands. She started 3 of the 4 sets in that tournament and scored 7 points for the Americans. She also lead the Americans in scoring at this year’s FIVB World Grand Prix and ranked 6th overall in the tournament – where she was one of only 2 Olympians along with Carli Lloyd participating for the USA.
In spite of that success, her name was absent from the American roster for the upcoming USA Volleyball Cup exhibition matches against Brazil on August 27th and 29th in Anaheim. USA Volleyball says that Murphy is taking a break from volleyball to finish her degree in elementary education at the University of Florida. The 27-year old was a two-time AVCA First Team All-American and was the the 2008 AVCA National Freshman of the Year – the first Gator to win that award.
Internationally, she was named the best server of the 2007 Women’s Junior World Championship, the MVP of the 2013 NORCECA Championship, and the best server in Japan’s V-League in 2015. She returned to Asia last season to play with Henan in China’s top volleyball league. There has been no announcement about Murphy’s 2017-2018 professional season, but USA Volleyball says that she is planning to return to the national team squad in 2018, a summer that will include the World Championships.
While she played all 4 years of her collegiate eligibility at Florida, she turned pro and signed with Mets de Guaynabo of the Puerto Rican league in 2012 before finishing the academic portion of her undergraduate experience.
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