Shippensburg University women’s volleyball libero Lauren Murphy – otherwise known as “Teacher Murph” to her teammates – leads the Raiders with 401 digs this season and is just 76 short of setting a new career high in her senior season.
But when she’s not using her forearms to set up her teammates on the volleyball court, Murphy is working toward her degree in midlevel elementary education for grades 4-8 with concentrations in science and language arts.
A 2011 PSAC Scholar Athlete, Murphy – who can often be spotted in the classroom, in Heiges Field House or in Starbucks – is currently fourth all-time in school history with 1,365 career digs.
Get to know Lauren Murphy…
What is your favorite pre-game ritual?
Team dinners with the team and team huddles before the first whistle.
What part of Shippensburg, either the campus or the town, do you most enjoy?
Heiges Field House on game days. It's where I've worked the hardest and where I get to perform at my best. Starbucks, too, because it's delicious and I might have a minor addiction to it. My teammate Andrea Heimsoth and I go there on a regular basis.
What is the best class you've taken at Shippensburg?
Classes for my major because they are very interactive and fun to be in. I think that learning is all about being actively engaged and sparking interest and most of my major classes do that so I enjoy going to them. Plus, most of my professors are very fun and interesting to learn from so that makes a huge difference.
If you weren't majoring in mid-level education, what would your major be?
Something related to counseling children or working with children. I think that is the best scenario for me because I enjoy learning from them and watching the kids grow and learn. I think that being some type of counselor or social worker that deals with children would be fun. Or I would do something completely different and want to do something around sports. Maybe like athletic training or something along those lines.
What is your favorite day of the week, and why?
Sunday because it's a day for me. I can take a break from the hectic week schedule and just focus on me and catch up and do whatever I want. I need Sundays in my week because I might just go crazy without them. Plus it's usually a day where delicious food is involved and some type of athletic event is on television or where shopping is a must. Sundays are the perfect days.
Which are your favorite PSAC schools to compete against, and why?
Lock Haven, simply because it's always a tough game. It's a battle to see who will win and I like the competition. Every year it's a fight with LHU to get the win and the challenge of beating them is the most enjoyable part of the game. Mercyhurst, too, because my good friend [Kiera Rebert] from my high school club team plays there and it's always fun to play against old teammates. It's business as usual on the court and then after the game it's great to catch up and see how she's been doing.
If we asked your teammates to say a few words about you, what do you think they would say?
I think that if you asked them to describe "Lauren" they would all look at you in a confused way and refer to me as "Murph." Most of my teammates forget that my first name is Lauren. I think that they would say that I work hard in the gym and that I am fun to be around (or at least I would hope so). They would also say something along the lines about how I want to become a teacher. They often refer to me as "Teacher Murph."
Which individual athletic accomplishment are you most proud of?
Playing in college. It was always a goal of mine to play a sport in college. For most of my life I thought it would be soccer, but then I fell in love with volleyball and decided to try to play that in college. It took years of practices, running, games, tournaments and traveling to get here and now I'm in my senior year.
What's the most difficult part of being a student-athlete?
Time. It always seems like I'm running somewhere to meet with someone or to go to class or to go to practice. Time management is a must for student-athletes and it never really gets any easier. There will always be days where the stress level is sky high, but that's when you go to practice and forget about the world for a few hours. I don't think people really understand the life of a student-athlete. Most people only see the uniforms and the warm-ups and all of the positive stuff. But what they don't see is all of the hard work, sweat, time, stress and effort that go into each day. While most students go relax after class and see their friends, student-athletes are going to practice or traveling to a game. Time never slows down for anyone, and athletes have to get really good at managing time and making it all work.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned being a student-athlete?
Time management, persistence and confidence. I have become very good at knowing when assignments are due and getting them done before they are due because I have to. I have to know my academic schedules and my athletic schedule and I have to make them both work together. It takes a lot of practice and time to organize this much but once everything fits together, life becomes a little easier. Persistence because no one will ever be "perfect," and in the game of volleyball it's all about mistakes. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes wins. But the persistent team will win as well. It’s okay to make mistakes, it’s how you handle them that makes the difference. Volleyball has taught me a lot about mistakes. I usually do not like making mistakes at all, on or off the court. But I have learned through playing that if I have confidence in myself and never give up, then I can prevail.
What piece of advice stays with you at all times?
My dad is always up for giving advice. But one of the best pieces of advice that he has given me is to look at the big picture. He is always telling me to look beyond what's right in front of me. I tend to get stressed out very easily and when I think of this advice I begin to become less stressed. I think about what is happening right now, and usually it's nothing as horrible as I am making it out to be. Then I picture the bigger situation that is going on like where this will take me and what I want to look back on and remember. He always tells me this for volleyball. He always says that if I have a bad game or a bad practice that’s okay, I usually am very hard on myself as a player. Then he says to look at the bigger scheme of things and think about how 20 years from now I will only remember the great games and my second family, my team. I carry this advice with me on and off of the court, everywhere I go.
If you could talk to children who are just beginning to show an interest in volleyball, what would you tell them they should focus on?
The basics. Everyone wants to get right into playing but you cannot play if you don't have the basics. I coach a high school club team and my girls hate doing ball control and basic stuff during practices; all they want to do is play. But without practicing the basics of the sport, you'll have nothing to base off of and during a game things will go haywire. I would also encourage them to not get discouraged at first. Volleyball is a hard sport to learn to play and it takes time. I'm still learning and I'm a senior in college.
What legacy do you hope to leave behind for future athletes at Shippensburg?
Just hard work and representing my school and team well. Ship has a great reputation in athletics and I want to be able to uphold that reputation.
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