Western Kentucky volleyball coach Travis Hudson announced the addition Friday of junior transfer Katie Shunk to the 2018 Lady Topper squad. Shunk is an outside hitter who played for Xavier the past two seasons and hails from Lexington.

“We’re really excited to add someone like Katie to our roster this late in the summer,” Hudson said in a news release. “We felt like we needed some additional depth at the outside hitter position and to have a Kentucky kid that was already enrolled as a WKU student was really just the perfect fit and we’re excited to have her joining us.”

A graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Shunk was teammates with current Lady Topper senior Mary Martin. With two years of eligibility remaining, she’ll be eligible immediately to compete for WKU.

During her career with the Musketeers, the outside hitter saw limited action. A competitive highlight for Shunk was a nine-kill outing against Butler in addition to three digs and a block assist.

Prior to her collegiate career, Shunk was a three-year varsity letter winner in high school. She was recognized with All-City and All-District honors as a senior in addition to collecting All-Academic Team honorable mention status, as well.

In her senior campaign, Shunk tallied 320 kills to go along with 400 digs. As a junior, the squad advanced to the state tournament semifinals.

Shunk joins a young WKU squad that returns eight players from last season’s 31-4 championship campaign. Additional newcomers to the 2018 squad are freshmen Payton Frederick, Ashley Hood, Katie Isenbarger and Lauren Matthews.