Kadyn Osborne
The UAA volleyball team has set up its future nicely after getting a commitment from junior college all-conference setter Kadyn Osborne of Anchorage.
The 2020 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year out of Dimond High confirmed her decision to transfer to UAA after posting on social media her intentions to come back and play for her hometown Seawolves next season.
The 5-foot-10 floor general is currently a sophomore starter at Eastern Arizona College, where she has 611 assists in 30 matches to rank sixth in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.
Osborne will join a Seawolves squad that has become a perennial NCAA Division II powerhouse under head coach Chris Green, a five-time GNAC Coach of the Year who owns a 319-115 career record in his 15 years on campus. This year’s team is 23-2 and ranked No. 6 in the country.
“It is going to be a transition for sure, but I’m glad I have two years of college volleyball under my belt instead of coming right into a high caliber program like UAA directly from high school,” Osborne said. “I got to be a leader and get used to a faster pace, and I think that will translate well at UAA.”
See you soon AK💛💚 @AKSportsReport @GNACsports @UAASeawolves pic.twitter.com/L7c2V4KM4D
— kadyn (@KadynOsborne) October 20, 2022
To help with the transition, she will transfer at semester and start practicing with the team in the spring. That means she will rub elbows with current UAA senior Ellen Floyd, an All-American setter from Florida, before filling that role in the fall.
“I have always looked up to the UAA setters, so becoming one is surreal and a bit nerve racking,” Osborne said. “Expectations are high at UAA, especially for setters, so I think keeping a positive mindset and being confident in my game will help me along the way. It is comforting to know that I’ll be in my hometown to help me with the transition.”
Osborne has been connected to UAA her entire life. Her dad, Rusty, has been a UAA men’s basketball coach since 1991. Her former high school coach, Kim Lauwers, piloted the Seawolf volleyball team from 1998 and 2004.
Another one of her coaches was Anchorage’s Morgan Hooe, a former UAA setter and 2016 GNAC Player of the Year.
“I was lucky enough to be coached by two All-American setters,” Osborne said of Lauwers and Hooe. “They prepared me early for the challenges of college volleyball and taught me how to be somebody to look up to on a team. I like to talk a lot on the court and I’m all about trusting my hitters.”
Eastern Arizona setter Kadyn Osborne of Anchorage. Photo by Bobby Joe Smith
At Eastern Arizona, Osborne has racked up 1,310 assists in two seasons. She is averaging 5.5 assists and 2.2 digs per set this season to go along with a career-high .405 attack percentage on 42-of-82 hitting. Last season she averaged 8.1 assists per set and had as many as 43 and 41 assists in a single match.
Osborne likes to spread the ball around to keep everyone happy and keep the defense guessing.
“One thing my college coach taught me was to get multiple hitters going at once; that way the whole team is a threat,” she said.
Osborne followed her older sister Jalyn to Eastern Arizona. Now she’s following her heart to UAA.
“I come from a big family that has always been there to support me, so I think coming home and having that constant support system again will help me a lot in many aspects,” she said. “There is also nothing like playing for your home crowd.
“I’m really excited to become a Seawolf myself. I watched a lot of local players have success at UAA and I hope I can follow in their footsteps.”
Nationally ranked UAA hosts GNAC matches Thursday against Northwest Nazarene and Saturday against Central Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.