In a year when Harper Murray became a gold medalist and was an All-American, the Skyline High School (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was named the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year.
The No. 1-ranked volleyball in the class of 2023, Murray dominated, recording 726 kills and 409 digs to go with 86 service aces, 44 assists and 40 blocks.
She led the team kills per set every season since entering high school. She started with a storm, amassing 700 kills as a freshman, improved her kill percentage to 54.7% and hit percentage to 43% as a junior, and set career-highs with 726 kills and 6.1 kills per set as a senior.
In August 2022, she led the United States to a U-19 Pan Am Cup gold medal and was named Best Spiker at the event.
MaxPreps and the American Volleyball Coaches Association named her a First Team All-American.
In naming players of the year, Gatorade also considers education and community service. Murray volunteered for the Vada Murray Endowed Fund for Cancer Research, named for her late father who passed away in 2011 at the age of 44 after battling lung cancer for three years.
She performed community service in his memory and took after Vada, who played football at the University of Michigan, in athletics, and is set to pave her own path at the University of Nebraska. She cited the program’s culture, staff and history of player development in an interview with Rivals. In the 23 years under head coach John Cook, the Cornhuskers have a record of 384-51 (.883) and have won four national championships.
Murray was presented the Gatorade award on Monday.
