Nebraska Huskers outside hitter Harper Murray has turned her life around within a year. The 19-year-old sophomore led the Huskers’ offense from the front in several matches this season. However, it seems that she’s truly found new gear in the NCAA championships, scoring over 30 kills in the last two matches. Yet, seven months ago, things were different.

2024 started on a sour note for Murray after she lost the 2023 NCAA title to the Texas Longhorns last year. However, it was what Harper said after the loss and the following backlash that let her down a slippery slope. Murray faced waves of criticism after noting that Nebraska would win the next three championships. And yet, as Harper Murray descended into the lowest phase of her life, the Huskers held on.

Harper Murray’s ever-supportive teammates witness her redemption

By April 2024, the AVCA North Region Freshman of the Year had hit rock bottom. Besides struggling to hold on to her love for volleyball, Murray was arrested for DUI and charged with shoplifting. The U.S. U21 National Team found her transgressions unforgivable, dismissing the hitter from the team. However, the Huskers stood by her during those troubled times. The entire coaching staff and her teammates supported Harper Murray, and it paid off—they got to see her blossom once again.

Although Harper Murray had a slow start, the volleyball icon only improved as the season went on. Since October, the offensive specialist has regularly scored double-digit kills; Murray’s improvement hasn’t escaped fellow Husker Laney Choboy’s sights, who remarked, “She’s grown as a person and as a player and this year, she has every right to be confident.” “She’s proving to everyone that she is supposed to be here and she’s here for a reason,” added the hitter’s former U21 National Team teammate.

Middle blocker Rebekah Allick backed this opinion, noting that she has not only seen Murray’s skills improve but also her matchIQ. Citing Murray’s most recent performance against Wisconsin, Allick was all praise for the sophomore. “Most people would probably crumble under that type of pressure,” Allick said, recalling Harper Murray going up against Wisconsin’s 6’9 Anna Smrek and 6’7 Carter Booth. However, Murray was the one who came out on top. “It was so satisfying to watch her tool Smrek like that,” Allick mentioned; however, this redemption wouldn’t be possible without Nebraska’s coach, John Cook.

The outside hitter wouldn’t be here without John Cook

“Everything we had to go through — it was emotional, it was draining,” Coach Cook told the Lincoln Journal Star, explaining, “There were times where she wanted to give up, I wanted to give up. If it wasn’t for the staff and her team, she would not be here.” Moreover, the sophomore herself revealed her coach’s pivotal role; like many volleyball players, Harper Murray used finger tapes before stepping on the court. But unlike most players, Murray takes the time to write on her finger tapes with a marker. Besides putting the initials of some of her closest teammates, such as Lexi Rodriguez, the 19-year-old has a space reserved for John Cook.

“I’m really lucky to have a coach like him,” the offensive special said in a TikTok video about her finger tape art, continuing, “He has also done a lot for me and put so much time and effort into me as a person and a player. He also is a very big role model for me.” And it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cook’s faith in the prodigy helped her return. Even during a time when Harper Murray struggled to rediscover her love for the sport, Cook didn’t leave her side. Unlike the U.S. National Team, he didn’t dismiss Murray from the Huskers, either.

“It’s one thing to say that… It’s another to act on it,” said the 19-year-old, who expected Coach Cook to follow in Team USA’s footsteps. However, her coach believed in giving the talented player a second chance. “You do everything you can before you give up on these kids,” John told the New York Times; so, Harper Murray is just as thankful to the 68-year-old coach as she is to the entire team. “I wouldn’t be the person or the player I am without him. And I know that I owe a lot to him. One of my biggest goals in life is to make him proud,” Murray said about Cook, and that’s exactly what she’s trying to do.

Harper Murray is a woman on a mission

There is no doubt that the outside hitter is thankful to the Huskers. However, the Michigan native doesn’t just want to say it; she is on a mission to prove it. Throughout the current season, Murray has scored a whopping 391 kills with a percentage of 0.261. While those are impressive numbers, she’s stepped up as the competition has heated up. During the last two games alone, Harper Murray has scored 32 kills, 28 digs, and 8 blocks, while in Nebraska’s Sweet 16 match against Dayton, she arguably put in the best performance of her career.

The outside hitter’s 22 kills matched the “most EVER by a Husker in an NCAA 4-set tournament match,” according to the official Huskers’ Instagram handle. 12 of her 16 digs in the last two games also came in the Dayton game. “We want to play our best in December, and that’s exactly what she’s doing,” setter Bergen Reilly added about Murray’s last two performances.

After facing brutal backlash, hitting rock bottom, and making a revival, Harper Murray is currently fighting to shut down these doubts, once and for all. “I feel like I have something to prove,” the Nebraska Huskers star emphasized, as per the New York Times. Heading into the final four of the 2024 NCAA Championships, Murray will continue her fight to make her team’s NCAA dreams a reality. After redeeming herself, the volleyball icon is now playing to redeem her team.