In fifth grade, senior volleyball player Kiah Murray, with her tomboy personality, didn’t want to try out for the school volleyball team, and in seventh grade, Murray didn’t even make the team.
Now, the defensive specialist from Muncie, Ind., said she can’t imagine a world without the experiences volleyball has given her.
“I gave it a shot and I’ve been with volleyball ever since,” Murray said. “I truly feel I have grown as a person being a part of this team, and I will never regret my decision to play a college sport.”
Even though her overarching position for Wittenberg is defensive specialist, Murray is the team’s libero, which means that she fosters more digs and is not affected by the rules of substitution; she generally stays in the game the whole time.
Now in her fourth year at Wittenberg, Murray is a Communication major with three minors: Spanish, Journalism, and Art.
Although she said that she spends about three to four hours in the gym with her team per day — either for practice or film — Murray is also involved in a sorority, Power Club, and she occasionally writes for The Torch.
“Freshman year, it was just school and volleyball for me,” Murray said. “But I’ve kind of acclimated to the time commitment that is volleyball. The key for me a lot of times is not caring what I look like.”
Murray was a freshman on the team when Wittenberg won the National Championship. As such a young player, she said she didn’t realize how big of a deal it really was. She also said that she hopes to be able to live up to the expectations and reputation of the national championship team.
“Winning it all is always the goal, but it is pretty awesome to be part of a team that has actually done that,” Murray said. “To be able to associate myself with a national championship team is pretty crazy.”
Another favorite experience of Murray’s was traveling to Spain, and being able to play volleyball internationally.
After realizing that she had the wrong passport and missing her flight, she said that once she joined her team, her trip was very smooth with a lot of great experiences, including a scavenger hunt through the historic city of Soria, and a meal of squid cooked in its own ink, a Spanish delicacy.
“You either jump into an opportunity or you don’t, and we just jumped in,” Murray said. “So I had a good time in Spain with the best people.”
Overall, Murray said that her experience with the volleyball team at Wittenberg has prepared her for adversity, taught her to treat others with respect, and has also taught her to give 110 percent to all that she does.
“The girls I play with are some of the best girls ever. They are the salt of the earth,” Murray said. “I would never take back these experiences.”
