Santa Barbara High volleyball player Chase Murphy is No. 1 student in his class

Chase Murphy is Santa Barbara High’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winner for the 2017-18 school year.

He was presented the award at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.

Chase Murphy of Santa Barbara High.

Murphy plays beach and indoor volleyball for the Dons. This fall, he served as an assistant coach for the frosh-soph girls volleyball team.

Murphy’s work in the classroom is at the top of the charts.

He is the No. 1 student in his class, carrying a GPA of 4.89. His class load includes Advanced Placement Literature, AP Government and a college-level class in Adobe Illustrator, which he takes at SBCC.

Murphy is a member Multimedia Arts and Design (MAD) Academy at Santa Barbara High. He was part of a group of academy students who traveled to Mexico to help build homes for families in need.

He is involved with the nonprofit group African Women Rising, which is dedicated to providing Permaculture gardens for impoverished families in Uganda.

Murphy uses his academic prowess to help other students. He is an academic mentor at the school and even has an after-school tutoring business

Murphy has an interest in biological sciences and biomedical engineering. He served an internship with a local anesthesiologist, which inspired him to look into premed programs in college and then medical schools.

Murphy’s college choices include USC, UCLA, Notre Dame and Cal-Berkeley.

Among his academic honors are AP Scholar with Honors and memberships in the National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation.