At 6 foot 2, Naperville Central Assistant Librarian Kelly Murphy can do more than just reach the highest bookshelf. Before she was hired at Central, Murphy formerly reached for the rafters in the 2016 Rio Olympics and brought home a bronze medal in Volleyball for Team USA.
Murphy began playing volleyball in fifth grade after her mother encouraged her to join the sport.
“I started very early,” Murphy said. “My mom was a volleyball coach, so even when I was really young, I was always around [during] her practices.”
Murphy continued to play at Joliet Catholic Academy, where her team made it to state twice during her high school career. In her senior year, Murphy was named the 2007-2008 National Gatorade Player of the Year.
“I started to get recruited [by colleges] during high school,” Murphy said. “It was a complicated process, but eventually I ended up going to the University of Florida.”
At Florida, Murphy’s team qualified for the NCAA Tournament all four years.
“We made it as far as the Elite Eight [in] my senior year,” Murphy said. “I loved everything about it. I was really happy with my career there.”
After graduating from Florida in 2011, Murphy turned professional, spending seven years playing in leagues around the world. She played several games in Puerto Rico, Italy, Japan and China, as well as regularly playing with the USA National Team.
“In 2014, we won the world championships, which was pretty cool,” Murphy said. “It was the first time that USA women’s volleyball had won a major gold medal at a tournament like that.”
Two years later, Murphy represented the U.S. at the Rio Olympics.
However, Murphy considers the 2014 World Championships in Italy her greatest accomplishment.
“That was a really tough tournament,” Murphy said. “It was a really physically demanding tournament, and to be able to win that first goal in a big tournament was a really good feeling for us.”
For Murphy, placing at the Olympics was the cherry on top of her previous accomplishments.
“Since I first got on the team in 2013, at the end of four years, you’re thinking, ‘am I going to be able to make the Olympic team?’” Murphy said. “And then finding out that you had finally done it, and being able to tell your friends and your family, that’s a feeling that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to replicate again.”
However, professional volleyball eventually began taking a toll on Murphy’s personal life.
“There were several factors in my decision,” Murphy said. “It was a lot of traveling that wasn’t fun anymore [and] I didn’t like being away from my family and friends for as much as I was. When I was younger in my career, [traveling] felt exciting and really cool, but towards the end, it felt like I was missing more than I was getting by being away. I was ready to move on and see what else was out there.”
After the Rio Olympics, Murphy played two more years of professional volleyball for Team USA, then decided to step away from her career in 2019.
“Immediately after playing, it was better for my mental aspect to have a break and to not think about [volleyball] at all,” Murphy said. “So that’s what I did, and it was refreshing. I got to fully be with my family and friends and [attend] all of the birthday parties and weddings that I felt like I was missing out on, which felt really good.”
However, Murphy soon found herself looking for a new activity to fill her time.
“After about a year of being retired, I started to just feel almost bored,” Murphy said. “A lot of athletes make the transition to coach, but for me, I really loved playing volleyball. When I started thinking about what I wanted to do after volleyball, Central’s position [as Assistant Librarian] opened up. It seemed like it would be a good fit for me, and I’m really happy it worked out.”
According to Central’s Teaching Librarian John Hayward, Murphy’s background of interacting with diverse cultures and experiences as a professional volleyball player contribute to her success at Central.
“It was immediately impressive that she had the Olympic logo on her resume,” Hayward said. “Like, ‘why not?’ That’s a perfectly valid qualification. But I remember hiring Ms. Murphy for her skill set, and we are so thankful that she’s a part of our staff.”
Despite her retirement, Murphy still feels connected to volleyball.
“I do still really enjoy watching volleyball, [and] it’s really cool seeing the growth of it, especially in America,” Murphy said. “I’m really happy here [at Central,] and I would love to continue to stay and get to be around all the people here. It’s been a really good environment.
