“I've shielded and protected myself" - Nebraska Volleyball's Harper Murray gets real about her growth on and beyond volleyball court

Nebraska Volleyball's Harper Murray opened up about how she learnt to protect her softer side from others and expressed pride in her growth both on and off the volleyball court. Murray recently joined her fellow Huskers to record consecutive sweeps over Penn State and Rutgers.

Harper Murray has been the frontrunner of Nebraska Volleyball since her freshman year with the Huskers. Over time, her on-court performances and massive social media following made her the face of women's collegiate volleyball and also one of the leading NIL athletes. However, she had a rough patch two years ago, when Nebraska lost to Texas at the 2023 NCAA Championships.

The outside hitter didn’t just fall into depression but was also cited for DUI months later. She bounced back in 2024, posting strong performances, earning the NCAA Lincoln Regional Most Outstanding Player honor, and helping Nebraska to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Continuing her momentum in 2025, Murray and her team catapulted to No. 1 in the women's college volleyball domain. In a recent conversation with Michella Chester, the 20-year-old talked about her growth on and off the court and how she became more empathetic and learnt to protect herself from others who would otherwise see her softer side. (2:10 onwards)

"I would be the most proud of just like how I've grown as a person. And again, like volleyball is a huge part of my life, which I'm super grateful for. But I think I've been able to find the love and the gratitude in what I have outside of volleyball, which sometimes you can overlook. So, I would just say like the growth I've had as a person, especially in the past 2 years, is something I'm super proud of," she said.

"The empathy that I've been able to give to people and grow. I feel like I've shielded myself and tried to protIn tect myself a lot from people seeing that soft side of me, but I think I'm just proud of how I've been able to grow as a person," Murray added.

In the recent road match against Rutgers, Harper Murray led Nebraska with 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage.

Nebraska Volleyball's Harper Murray expressed that her life isn’t only about volleyball

Murray at the 2024 Division I Women's Volleyball Semifinals - (Source: Getty)

Harper Murray has consistently maintained an active social media presence, in addition to making waves on the volleyball court. Her posts typically feature a mix of personal content, volleyball highlights, and brand campaigns, shared across Instagram and TikTok. In a recent interview on the NCAA Championships official page, the 20-year-old highlighted that her life isn't just defined by volleyball. She has a variety of other passions that are frequently featured on her social media platforms.

"What I want people to understand is like people have lives outside of their sports. And I feel like that's something that I've been able to incorporate in my social media. And that's kind of been a goal of mine because I feel like when they see that, they can understand that I'm a person also and volleyball is not my whole life. Like there's more to me than that," she said. (beginning 0:22)

Harper Murray recently signed an NIL deal with the giant brand, Adidas. She was also honored for the same at the Nebraska Love Library.