Why Nebraska volleyball freshman Harper Murray will be at the ESPYs
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The high caliber of student-athletes the Nebraska volleyball program is able to recruit is reflected in the program’s five players who have been chosen as the Gatorade high school national player of the year.
This season, the Huskers will have two such players and they both play outside hitter — freshman Harper Murray and junior Ally Batenhorst.
Other Nebraska players chosen for the award were Gina Mancuso (2009), Mikaela Foecke (2014) and Lexi Sun (2017).
The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high academic achievement standards and exemplary character on and off the court.
As a result of winning that award, Murray will be in Los Angeles on Wednesday to attend the ESPYs award show and walk the same red carpet as many college and professional athletes.
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Just before she left for Lincoln in January to begin training with the Huskers, Murray was surprised at school with the news she was the national player of the year.
“It was an award that I had been looking at for a while,” Murray said in June in an interview with the Huskers Radio Network. “One of my sister’s old teammates (Jess Mruzik) had won it from Michigan and I was pretty close with her and I knew that was something that I wanted to do when I saw her win it. So kudos to my coaches for helping me, and my mom for supporting me.”
As a senior at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Murray had 726 kills and 409 digs, leading her team to a 38-9 record. She had an impressive .409 hitting percentage.
In school, Murray had a 3.62 GPA and was able to graduate early.
Murray volunteered extensively for the Vada Murray Endowed Fund for Cancer Research, named for her late father. She has also served as a lead coach for the Skyline Rising Eagle Volleyball Clinic.
Now playing college volleyball in the Big Ten Conference, Murray will get to play against her sister, Kendall Murray, who plays for Michigan.
Murray credits Kendall for getting her into volleyball. They had a sand court in their backyard.
“I remember being that little girl on the sideline at convention centers (during club volleyball tournaments) that would get yelled at to stop playing because I’d be watching her games,” Murray said. “It’s really cool that I’m going to get to play against her. If she uses her COIVD year it will be for two years.”
Their brother, Deric, plays college basketball at Madonna, an NAIA school in Livonia, Michigan.
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Read More: Why Nebraska volleyball freshman Harper Murray will be at the ESPYs 2023-07-12 00:00:00