Oct. 20, 2009

So much has changed for Ariana Mankus in one year.

She no longer goes to school in the protective cocoon of Benet Academy, surrounded by boys and girls she grew up with. Now she is some 800 miles away, living with three other girls in barracks at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

A different life, for sure.

But there is always the volleyball.

Twelve months removed from taking Benet within a game of a Class 4A state championship, the 2008 Daily Herald All-Area captain now is a freshman on Army's volleyball team.

She hasn't skipped a beat.

For the complete article by Joshua Welge of the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald click here