With two seniors leaving the WKU volleyball program after the 2019 season, head coach Travis Hudson brought in a new piece to the roster puzzle on Wednesday.

Hudson announced the signing of prep standout Shannon Keck, who inked her National Letter of Intent to play for the Lady Toppers on the Hill next fall.

Keck is a middle hitter from Newark, Ohio, that will be expected to add more depth to the WKU offense.

“Shannon brings some much-needed physicality to the team’s size,” Hudson said in a release. “She’s a big kid, a big middle that’s still fairly inexperienced. I think her best days are ahead of her still; we have a pretty good track record here of developing high-level middle hitters and I certainly think she has the skillset to turn into one of those.

“Shannon’s size and athleticism stood out to us during recruiting but what really impacted us was Shannon Keck the person when we met her. She’s a really terrific kid and she’ll be a great teammate. Shannon’s super coachable and just one of those kids that you know you’re going to be glad you have in your gym every day.”

Keck played her high school career at Newark Catholic in Newark, Ohio. She led her team to four straight league championships. In her senior year, Keck was named the Division IV Player of the Year after her team won their first district title since 2015 and first in Division IV since 2014. 

Keck was named first-team All-District after earning second-team recognition as a sophomore. The WKU signee was also a three-time first-team All-LCL selection. Keck also earned All-Tournament Team status at the Golden Spike Toledo event three-straight seasons to end her prep high school career. 

As a senior, Keck put up 227 kills while having a .346 hitting percentage. Defensively, she totaled 101 blocks, with 122 digs across the 71 sets she played.

For her career, Keck put up 773 kills and a .294 hitting clip. She posted 202 solo blocks and 359 total blocks to go along with 75 aces.

“I chose WKU because it felt different to me; the campus is beautiful and the many academic opportunities are very promising, especially for someone like me who is unsure of their major,” Keck said in a release. “Every person I met was very genuine and welcoming, never once did I feel like I didn’t belong.

“For those reasons – and many more – I chose to further my education at Western Kentucky University.”

Keck will join a young WKU roster that looks poised for more success when next season rolls around.

Reporter Kaden Gaylord can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Kaden on Twitter at @_KLG3.