Former Kansas standout Kelsie Payne will make her debut on Thursday in Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball.
Athletes Unlimited, which also operates leagues for basketball, lacrosse and softball, stages a five-week competition in Mesa, Arizona. Teams change on a weekly basis and players get ranked on an individual leaderboard based on overall performance.
Payne, an opposite hitter, will spend her first week on a team captained by former Oregon outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller; she was the seventh pick in a draft held Monday.
Team Nuneviller’s first match, against Team De La Cruz, is set for 9:30 p.m. Central Time on Thursday and will air on VBTV and Bally Sports regional sports networks. The team will then face Team Hentz at 8:30 p.m. Sunday and Team Valentin-Anderson at 8:30 p.m. Monday in a pair of nationally televised ESPNU matchups.
Payne, who most recently played for Città Di Messina in Italy last season, is one of 23 newcomers in the Athletes Unlimited league this season. She is also set to play for the Omaha Supernovas of the Pro Volleyball Federation during the winter.
Payne had her jersey retired by KU in 2022 in recognition of a career that saw her earn three straight all-conference first-team honors and a pair of first-team All-American selections from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was part of the Jayhawks’ landmark 2015 campaign, was Big 12 player of the year the following season and holds KU’s all-time records for kills, kills per set and hitting percentage.
She has also played internationally in Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey.
John Young
