"Navigating mental health struggles to overcome hardships"- Harper Murray opens up about her appearance at women's NIT as a presenting athlete

Harper Murray has exuded excitement about returning to Kansas City as a presenting athlete at the Tripel Crown National Volleyball Championships. Murray is gearing up for the 2025 NCAA volleyball season.

Amid her preparations for the upcoming season, Murray will return to the Kansas City Convention Centre on February 14 for NIT, Triple Crown Volleyball. As a presenting player, she will have meaningful conversations about mental health struggles and growth in the sport with the youth athletes.

Excited about her visit to the program, she opened up about being a part of the women's NIT on social media. Murray took to Instagram, sharing a photo of her with her teammates on the court, and penned a heartfelt note, stating her comeback to the program. Hoping to inspire the young athletes from her mindset, she wrote:

"I am so excited to announce that I will be returning to Triple Crown Sports NIT tournament this year!! But instead of arriving as a participating athlete, this year I will be presenting!! On Friday, February 14, I will take the stage from 2-3pm at the Kansas City Convention Center to share my story."

"It is a story of navigating mental health struggles to overcome hardships and persevere both on and off the court. I look forward to connecting with youth athletes and hope they will find inspiration from my story. Following my presentation, I will open the floor up for a Q&A to talk more about playing volleyball at the college level," she added.

Murray's Instagram story (@harpermurrayy/IG)

Harper Murray opened up about Nebraska Volleyball's approach for the 2025 NCAA season

Nebraska volleyball player, Murray - Source: Getty

Harper Murray and her team fell short of nabbing the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championships title. Penn State, who bested them in the semi-finals, picked up momentum from the third round and qualified for the finals, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13.

Following the heartbreaking loss during John Cook's final year as the head coach, Harper Murray recently opened up about the team's approach for the 2025 season under new head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. In a video on her team's YouTube channel, Murray revealed that Nebraska Volleyball sadly fell short of winning the title for Cook but can win it for Kelly.

“A lot of us wanted to win a national championship with coach. But I think the way that we can reframe that in our head is now we can win one for him. And I think that's the best way to approach this year. And you know, we can win one for coach. We can win one for Dani. We can win one for all the little girls that look up to us in Nebraska and around the country. So, I think that's how we need to reframe it for this year,” Harper Murray said [1:31:01 onwards].

Harper Murray became a part of Nebraska's women's volleyball team in 2023 and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year this year.