CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Kyndal Payne is one of the leaders on the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Islanders Women's Volleyball team.
Her sister Kaylee Payne played for the Islanders from 2018-20 while Kyndal was in high school in Fort Worth, Texas.
"As soon as she got here, I got to come to a lot of the games and I just fell in love with the school, the campus, and everything about this program," Kyndal said.
She said watching her sister play and win championships motivated her to become an Islander and do the same thing.
"Come in and be the best player that I could be right off the bat, because I wanted to contribute to that successful nature of this program and pursue excellence like she did," Kyndal said.
The Islanders won the 2020 Southland Conference Championship and Kaylee Payne was a standout player in the championship match. While that team lost in the NCAA Tournament's first round, Islanders Head Coach Steve Greene said it gave Kyndal something to strive for when she joined the team.
"Kaylee was able to help lead our team to a championship and Kyndal wanted to make her own mark and I think she's done that and more," Greene said.
Greene said Kyndal does not seek awards but is still pleased to get them. Last season as a sophomore, she was named an Honorable Mention All American and the Southland Conference Player of the Year. He said she works as hard as anyone he has ever coached.
"Those accolades are the highest really that, you know, you can achieve in our sport, you know, and so for her to be able to do that as a sophomore is really impressive," Greene said.
Kyndal attributes her accolades to her teammates setting her up for success. Her banner was recently put up and she said it is an honor to have it.
"It's just really motivated me to, you know, get better this season and work even harder to try and achieve same things this year," Kyndal said.
Kyndal said she is now working towards being a better leader and pushing her teammates to be successful. Her coach said her teammates look up to her as she works hard and loves playing the game.