Payne was named head coach in July of 2022, a season after serving as an assistant coach for the Tornado. In her first season as head coach, Payne guided the Tornado to a regular season conference title and NCAA Southeast Regional appearance.

As an assistant, she helped guide the Tornado Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament titles in 2022. That season the Tornado set numerous school records and qualified for the NCAA Southeast Regional for the third time in program history.

Year-By-Year Coaching Records

Athlete Honors

• 1 NFCA All-America selection
• 1 D2CCA All-America selection
• 2 D2CCA All-Southeast Region selections
• 3 NFCA All-Southeast Region selections
• 5 All-Conference Carolinas selections
• 3 Conference Carolinas All-Tournament honorees
• 2 Conference Carolinas All-Defensive Team selections
• 5 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees
• 14 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees
• 3 Conference Carolinas Players of the Week
• 2 Conference Carolinas Pitchers of the Week
• 1 Tennessee Sports Writers Association Players of the Week
• 2 Tennessee Sports Writers Association Pitchers of the Week

King Highlights

• 2024 Conference Carolinas Northwest Division champions
• 2023 Conference Carolinas regular season champions
• 2022 Conference Carolinas Tournament runner-up
• 2023 NCAA Regional appearance, at large selection
• First career wins came on Sunday, February 12 over Florida Southern College at the University of North Georgia
• The 36 wins in 2023 are the second most in program history

Year-By-Year Season Recaps (head coach)

2024: After dropping their first three games, things started to turn for the Tornado at Lincoln Memorial, where they rallied for a 11-10 victory, setting off a season where they would qualify for the Confernce Carolinas tournament once again, falling in the opening round to Barton. Not only did the Tornado win the inaugural Northwest Division title, but Tori Ryan was named first team All-Conference Carolinas, and second team NFCA All-Region.

2023: The Tornado played the most games in a season in program history, 60, and won the second most in program history, 36. King won the regular season Conference Carolinas crown for the second straight season and reached the NCAA Southeast Regional for the second straight year and fourth time in program history. The Tornado finished with a 36-24 record, going 16-6 in Conference Carolinas play and finishing as the tournament runner-up. Jessica Campbell set single season school records with a .480 batting average, .547 on base percentage, 70 runs scored, 94 hits and 147 total bases. She became the second player in program history to garner All-American honors from the NFCA and D2CCA, including the first Tornado to earn first team honors from the D2CCA. Along with Campbell, Madison Walter earned first team All-Region honors from the NFCA and second team honors from the D2CCA. Season school rankings as of 2023: first with 21 sacrifice flies, second with a .312 batting average, .382 on base percentage, 334 runs scored, 502 hits, 92 doubles, 46 home runs, 300 runs batted in, 752 total bases, 58 hit by pitch, with seven saves, with 297 strikeouts from pitchers, third with a .467 slugging percentage, 34 sacrifice hits, with 10 shutouts, fourth with 139 walks, with an opponent batting average of .275, fifth with 10 triples, 42 stolen bases. Walter also tossed the second seven inning no hitter in program history, defeating Concord 6-0 on March 7.

Year-By-Year Season Recaps (assistant coach)

2022: King set school records for wins (42), conference wins (18), hits (503), doubles (119), home runs (63), slugging percentage (.509), runs scored (368), runs batted in (329) and total bases (835). The Tornado led all of NCAA Division II with 119 doubles, ranked 14th with 63 home runs and 18th with 503 hits. Rikkelle Miller became the first Tornado to be selected All-America by the NFCA and D2CCA. She was also the second Tornado to earn first team All-Southeast Region honors from the NFCA and the D2CCA. Erin Foster earned second team All-Region honors from the D2CCA. Miller, Foster and Carly Turner were selected first team All-Conference Carolinas while Nikole Counts and Peyton Day earned second team recognition. Miller and Samantha Helms were named to the Conference Carolinas All-Defensive team while Helms earned the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Award. Following the Conference Carolinsa Softball Championship crown, Counts was named the tournament's MVP while Miller and Camryn Haag earned All-Tournament team honors. The duo of Counts and Haley Mullins combined for a no-hitter against Converse University on April 13.

Prior to King

Payne came to Bristol after spending two years as a graduate assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial. During those two years, Payne helped the Railsplitters to a record of 54-13, winning the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) regular season title and finishing as Southeast Regional runner-up in 2021.

She served as an academic liaison for the Railsplitters and helped with all the on-field coaching, serving as the first base coach. She was also heavily involved on the recruiting side, helping bring players to campus and arranging campus tours.

Prior to her time at Lincoln Memorial, Payne served as a graduate assistant coach at Wheeling University. Her coach career started during her playing career as she was a clinic director for Triple Crown Sports in 2018 and worked camps, primarily with the hitters and fielders from 2017-19.

Personal

She played two years at Purdue University Northwest where she was earned third team NFCA All-America honors as a first basemen. Payne was a two-time first team all-region selection and 2018 conference player of the year.

Before arriving at Purdue University Northwest, Payne helped Kankakee Community College to a NJCAA national championship in 2015. In 2016, Payne was selected first team all-region and second team All-America.

Payne graduated from Purdue University Northwest in 2018 with a degree in sociology before earning her Master of Business Administration from Lincoln Memorial in 2021.