Columbus North’s Morgan Osborn makes a dig against Bloomington North Sept. 2 at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Being three years apart, Morgan and Payten Osborn never have been on the same volleyball team.
The Osborns figured they might get a chance to play together this year when Morgan entered her senior year at Columbus North and Payten was entering her freshman year. But Payten ended up deciding to attend Columbus East.
Thursday night, the sisters will be on opposite sides when the Olympians host the Bull Dogs in the annual crosstown rivalry battle.
“I think it will be different,” Morgan said. “We’ve never actually played together or against each other, so it will be really fun. It will be a new experience for both of us.”
Morgan, a 5-foot-0 libero, recently became the all-time digs and aces leader at North. The 5-4 Payten has emerged as the starting setter at East and leads the Olympians in assists and aces.
“I’m really excited to play my sister,” Payten said. “Obviously, I’ve been looking forward to playing her for awhile now. I think it’s going to be really good competition between us two. Yes, there is a little bit of nervousness in me, but that’s because I’m playing my sister, and I’ve never played her before.”
Columbus East’s Payten Osborn serves the ball against Franklin Aug. 21 at Columbus East High School.
Nicholas Shaw | For the Republic
For Payten, choosing East came down to it being the right fit for her.
“I already knew lots of people at East,” Payten said. “Yes, I have friends at North, but I’m more of a person that is willing to make new friends and try new things that I’ve never done before, and East fits more of my personality.
“I’ve been at North watching Morgan play,” she added. “Yes, it’s amazing (at North), but once I set foot in (East), I was like ‘This is me. This is my home. I need to go. It feels right for me.’”
Morgan Osborn
Morgan, who has committed to play at Indiana Wesleyan next year, understands why Payten picked the Olympians.
“It was probably the best for her,” Morgan said. “I support every decision that she’s made, and I think she’s going to do great things over at East. I knew that’s what Payten wanted, and that’s where Payten is going to be for the next four years, and I’m going to be at Indiana Wesleyan.”
In another twist to the story, the Osborns’ mother Jessica Robertson is an assistant coach for the Olympians. Robertson was the head coach at Brown County when Morgan was a freshman there, then came to North as an assistant for Morgan’s sophomore and junior years with the Bull Dogs.
When Sarah Stair took over as North’s head coach in the offseason, she brought in a new staff. Then, after Payten decided to attend East, Olympians coach Alison Eagleman approached Robertson about joining her staff.
“I plan to not be too vocal on the coaching bench for East,” Robertson said. “I’ll probably just be keeping stats and try to make it more of a mom situation. But we’ve definitely been preparing. We haven’t been focused on North, but just on little things to improve overall, mental toughness being one. I think Allie has a good program going.”
Payten Osborn
This is Robertson’s first time coaching Payten since she ran a Little League for 8-year-olds in Brown County. Since then, she has mostly coached Morgan. Robertson also has a 9-year-old daughter Gwen, who attends Taylorsville Elementary.
The Bull Dogs, at 15-10 going into Tuesday night’s game with Bedford North Lawrence, are enjoying their best season in several years. The Olympians, who were 10-15 going into Tuesday’s contest at Bloomington South, also are improved over last season.
“They are a really good team, and so are we,” Payten said. “I think it’s going to be a really good game because we have lots of potential. They have lots of potential. I’m really excited to see where we get in that game.”
Since Morgan plays in the back row, she and Payten likely won’t cross paths at the net during the game. But they have a secret handshake that they plan to do prior to the contest.
“Morgan and I are going to do it before the game,” Payten said. “We’re just going to give each other a hug, do a little handshake, and then it’s game time.”
