Kelsie Payne

Personal: Payne studied communications at Kansas. She is the daughter of David and Kandi Payne and notes her proudest achievement as being named Big 12 Player of the Year and earning three All-America honors. Her hobbies include traveling and spending time with friends. Growing up, she competed in soccer, track and field, participated in dance, and played the piano.

Other Professional Experience: Payne played with Messina in Italy during the 2024 season. She was a member of SigortaShop for the 2022-23 season in Turkey and spent two seasons with Hipass in South Korea. Payne also played one season in Switzerland with VC Kanti and in Brazil with Pinheiros. In 2025, she signed to play for the Omaha Supernovas in the Pro Volleyball Federation.

International Experience: Payne represented Team USA during the 2016 Pan American Games.

At Kansas: Payne was a four-year letter winner at Kansas, where she earned AVCA All-America honors three times, including First-Team recognition as a sophomore and junior. She led the Jayhawks to their first Big 12 Championship in 2016 and their first NCAA semifinal appearance in 2015. Payne graduated as Kansas’ all-time leader in kills (1,510), kills per set (3.63), and hitting percentage (.334). In 2023, she was inducted into the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame. She was named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2016 and earned three First-Team AVCA All-Midwest Region and First-Team All-Big 12 certificates. Payne was also a member of the 2015 NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team and stands 11th in Kansas history with 351 career total blocks. She led the team in kills for three consecutive seasons, setting a single-season record with 496 kills as a sophomore in 2015.