As an eighth grader, Kelly Murphy watched Joliet Catholic Academy win a state volleyball championship, and in that moment, she knew exactly where she wanted to be—on the court at Redbird Arena, competing for a state title herself.
“Just being able to see that, it was kind of an immediate goal,” Murphy said. Inspired and determined, she enrolled at JCA the following year and, as a freshman, earned a spot on the varsity volleyball team.
In her four years at JCA, Murphy and her teammates continued to build on the program's success including two state tournament appearances. “It was a really fun environment to be in,” she said.
Murphy spent her off-seasons training and playing club volleyball with Sports Performance in Aurora.
“I was always around really good coaches and teammates, and it was always about what we needed to do to make our team better and reach that next goal,” Murphy shared during an open conversation with Coal City High School athletic director Brad Boresi during the annual Senior Athletic Banquet on May 4.
“There had to be a point where you realized that you were pretty good?” Boresi asked.
“Once I got to high school and we made it to state—my first goal—then I thought maybe I can get a scholarship and go to college. It was always about looking toward the next step, and inworking on that other acknowledgements started coming.” It was at that point she thought, “maybe I can do a little something with this.”
Murphy's dominance on the court caught the attention of college scouts and they started reaching out early in her high school playing career. She recalls the texts, emails and letters that would come inviting her to camps and campuses.
“I didn’t really know anything about the recruiting process and my parents hadn’t really experienced that either so it was a big learning curve how to respond to all of these [inquiries], how to keep it organized and what to do in making a decision,” she shared.
As all of this was taking place she was still playing at the high school and club level, and navigating academics at one of the area's premiere private schools. Murphy’s high school playing days were indeed successful and in her senior year she was selected as the National Gatordade® Player of the Year—an award given to recognize athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character.
With multiple collegiate offers, Murphy said the first step was figuring out what she wanted out of the college experience. “Did I want to go somewhere far away or did I want to stay close, can I form a relationship with the coach—can I pay under this person for four years, do I see myself being able to learn from them, communicate with them,” she said.
“What ended up coming down for me is I wanted to go to someplace with warm weather and that kind of narrowed it down a little bit for me. Once I knew that, I was able to plan all the [college] visits,” Murphy said, adding once on campus it's important to ask the questions you want answered and to really try to see yourself not only as an athlete, but as a student. “Should I not be able to play the sport anymore, I wanted to like the school enough to be able to say at the school if I wasn’t playing that was important to me.”
Murphy, who was ranked the top volleyball recruit in the nation her senior year, found everything she was looking for in the University of Florida.
“It was a really fun time to be there. Tim Tebo was there and they had just won back-to-back basketball championships so obviously there was sports enthusiasm, but I also felt a real connection with the girls on the team and the coach [Mary Wise]. I had a really good experience meeting the coach and trusted her, so that ended up making the decision pretty easy for me,” Murphy said.
Florida’s volleyball program was successful and had a great tradition in the Southeast Conference [SEC]. “It just felt right when I was there,” she said.
During her time with the Gators, Murphy set school records for her time on the court. She was a four time All-American, and earned numerous SEC honors. She was the first player at Florida to be named the American Volleyball Coaches Association [AVCA] National Freshman Player of the Year and was selected as the SEC Player of the Year in 2010. Her contributions to the university and volleyball program were recognized when she was named to the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.
Going into high school, Murphy—who grew up in Wilmington— likely did not realize how far the sport would take her.
Not only is she a decorated high school and collegiate athlete, Murphy is a former professional volleyball player and Olympian.
“Her professional volleyball career and accomplishments are beyond impressive,” Boresi said.
Murphy played professionally for seven seasons and was part of the United States national women’s team from 2013 to 2018. She was one of 12 players on the 2016 Olympic team—starting in every game and winning a bronze medal in Rio.
The road to the Olympics involved years of training with the women’s national team. Murphy was invited to train with the team after her first professional season. The group of 20 to 30 players train during the summer months with the hope of one day making the 12 person roster, and as Murphy told the student-athletes there is, “no guarantee you are going to make it.” She did make it, learning just three weeks ahead of the games that she was heading to Rio.
Murphy took part in the 2016 opening ceremonies with the other members of Team USA. One of the highlights of the opening, she shared, was walking into the arena with all of the other US athletes and seeing the best in the world. “I was in awe of what was happening and that is when you let yourself feel like you are at the Olympics,” she said.
The volleyball team played its first match the next day, so it was an early night for her and her teammates but it was the start to an exciting two weeks.
Murphy admittedly was fangirling over fellow Olympians Michael Phelps , Simone Biles and Serena Williams. “Everywhere you looked there was someone, the best in the world,” she said.
Murphy’s medals also include gold from the 2014 World Championship and 2015 World Grand Prix . She retired from the sport in 2019.
During her visit to Coal City, Murphy shared a bit into what life is like as a collegiate and professional athlete and the importance of academics.
“Balancing athletics and academics might have been the biggest learning curve for me when I got to college. I actually had a little bit more time when I was in college. So it was forcing myself to manage it. When you are in high school you are in school eight hours a day and I was driving to practice for three to four hours, so everything was pretty managed for me. In college I had to be better at scheduling myself, especially when traveling,” Murphy told the student-athletes attending the banquet. She encouraged those going on to the next level to take advantage of the resources available to them. “I used everything at my disposal to be successful. I probably cared more about volleyball at that time then I did school, but in order to be able to play I had to keep up with the school part of it. I was taking more ownership of it myself in order to make volleyball possible.”
Volleyball will always be a big part of her life. Today she enjoys watching games and took particular interest in last year’s summer Olympics. “I still know a couple of girls on the team so it was fun to watch them on that stage and they ended up taking silver which is really exciting,” Murphy said. She noted that it's nice to see the increased enthusiasm for women’s sports. “I enjoy seeing the growth in the sport, and It’s cool to turn on the TV and see a women’s sport in any event,” she said.
Murphy now takes to the court just for fun. “The competitive part, I did that and got everything I wanted out of that.”