Gators leaning on Murphy for offense as season opens

A first-team All-American last season, Murphy is the Gators’ leading returner in kills (337) and one of five seniors suiting up for coach Mary Wise’s squad as it opens its season at 7:30 tonight against Boston College in the O’Connell Center.

“She’s a pretty cerebral type of player,” Wise said. “She’s not the most emotional player by any stretch, but what she is is a go-to player.”

In terms of leadership, Murphy could be considered the type of player who sets an example for her teammates with her play on the court.

As her kill numbers indicate, Murphy is an offensive force, but she also showed her versatility by recording the third-most digs (239) for UF last season.

“Kelly has the skills, whether it’s behind the service line, whether it’s setting or attacking, she has the skills,” Wise said. “She wants the ball, she wants to make the plays at crunch time, and she can deliver. That’s what you want in a senior, an experienced player.”

However, being a leader is more than putting together a good effort on the court each match.

Murphy now shoulders the responsibility — with her fellow seniors — of keeping the Gators focused on competing for the Southeastern Conference and national titles.

Add the increased national attention for her efforts during the 2010 campaign to the equation, and Murphy is dealing with quite a led spotlight.

“There’s definitely a little bit more pressure,” Murphy said. “Being a senior, there’s a lot more responsibility because you’re the oldest on the team, so everybody’s looking up to you. You definitely have that pressure to perform all the time when the team’s doing well, when the team’s not doing well.”

Energy-efficiency investments paying off

Since Doug Miles moved his Seacoast Volkswagen dealership from Portsmouth to a new building and location seven years ago, finding the best way to deal with high energy costs has been a priority.

"It's always a sound business decision," Miles said about the investments he has made over the years. He has installed passive solar units, three small, computer-controlled natural gas boilers and a 35-foot wind turbine. More recently, the dealership added an 80-panel photovoltaic array to produce electricity and is changing to energy-efficient LED light bulbs in all of the property's parking lot light fixtures.

"We've had so many different projects, and we're just fortunate to be in the position to pursue them," Miles said of the various state and federal grants and tax incentives he has utilized to add one piece of the energy efficiency puzzle after another.

Though energy prices are down from a year to two years ago, commercial electricity and energy costs have been a consistent top concern for business owners in the region, along with skyrocketing health care costs, taxes and regulation.

Michael Licata, an energy policy expert with the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association, said energy costs overall in New England have been higher for more than two decades, in part because the regional power grid has been more reliant on natural gas for electricity generation than most any other part of the country.

"Right now natural gas is really cheap and there are a lot of reasons. It's simple supply and demand. The economy is really bad and people aren't using as much," Licata said.

While natural gas prices have been volatile, deregulation has given large-scale energy users the opportunity to find favorable electricity contracts. "Businesses need to be on the cutting edge to remain competitive in a global marketplace. They have been able to find pretty favorable contracts on the open market," he said.