Bio

Payne took the helm of the Eutectic Women's Volleyball Team in 2019, after serving nine years as Assistant Coach for the program. She also works as an Assistant Sports Information Director, a position she has held since 2017. Additionally, Katie is the Eutectics’ Senior Woman Leader (SWL). The SWL role is held by a female administrator or coach who serves as a key participant in senior-level management decisions regarding intercollegiate athletics on campus. The primary purpose of the SWL is to provide a visible and identifiable female presence within the athletic department.

In Payne's first season as head coach, the Eutectic team posted the most conference wins in the program's history, becoming the first Eutectic team (in any sport) to host an opening round for the American Midwest Conference (AMC) post-season tournament. The team continues to be a threat within the conference, boasting twenty All-Conference awardees and thirteen Player of the Week athletes during Payne's tenure. Her teams have also excelled in the classroom, generating eight College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Athletes, forty-one Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes, and an A.O. Duer Scholarship Winner. In addition, the team won the Department’s Team Academic Award for the highest team GPA for the 2023-24 school year and is a fixture on the AVCA Academic Team Award list.  

In college, Payne captained the volleyball and softball teams during her senior year at Dominican University and received all-conference honors in softball, as well as Dominican's Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award before graduating in 2006 with a degree in graphic design and photography. She earned her Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University - Irvine in 2017. Besides coaching at the collegiate level, she has coached USAV Juniors from age 14U to 18U. She also launched and served as the Eutectics' head softball coach from 2013-2016.

In her free time, Payne enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.