Florida volleyball’s Kelly Murphy and Lauren Bledsoe each earned All-America honors from Volleyball Magazine for the 2010 season. Murphy was named a first-team All-America selection by VBM, while Bledsoe was named to the third team.
Murphy, the 2010 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, earns her second first-team All-America honor of the year, after also being named a first-team selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in December. Murphy, who eclipsed both the exclusive 1,000-kill and 1,000-point plateaus during the 2010 season, was the only player to rank among the SEC’s top-10 individually (all matches combined) in hitting percentage, kills per set and service aces per set. Murphy became just the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills and ranks ninth all-time in program history in career assists.
Murphy led the SEC with 0.40 service aces per set, while ranking fourth in hitting percentage with a .374 clip and ninth in kills per set with a team-leading 3.04. She also dished out 5.48 assists per set as part of the team’s 6-2 offensive scheme and added 2.15 digs per set and 0.67 blocks per set for a squad-best 3.78 points per set. Murphy tallied seven triple-doubles during the 2010 campaign to give her a school-record 23 triple-dips for her career and added 23 double-doubles during the course of the season.
Bledsoe was a 2010 All-SEC First Team selection and an AVCA All-South Region honoree, starting each of Florida’s 31 matches at middle blocker. She ranked second on her team and fifth in the SEC with 1.06 blocks per set. She finished the year ranked 21st in the nation in hitting percentage with a .382 clip. She was fourth on her team in kills per set with 1.92 and tallied double-figure kills on five occasions during the course of the year. Bledsoe posted four or more blocks in 17 contests in 2010.
The Gators recorded one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2010, posting a 29-2 overall record and claiming the program’s 19th SEC title. Florida advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals for the 19th time in the last 20 years and extended the nation’s longest streak of consecutive 25-win seasons to 20.