Born to Scott and Sandy Murphy in Wilmington, Illinois (a village approximately 60 miles southwest of Chicago), Kelly was raised with her two sisters, Jennifer and Mary. Murphy would attend Joliet Catholic Academy in nearby Joliet, Illinois, 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. 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.[1][2] 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, Japan and China. She was not one of the twelve players named to the 2020 Olympic team.
^Benedetti, Valeria (October 12, 2014). "Volley, Mondiale: Usa batte Cina 3-1". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Milan, Italy. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
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