Benet's Mankus worth watching
She's the youngest of four sisters, one face in a crowded family picture.
Maybe you looked elsewhere watching her loaded Sports Performance club volleyball team win nationals last summer. And she's just one of seven players on her high school team who will play Division I volleyball next year.
You could miss Ariana Mankus. Boy, would you be missing out.
Benet Academy, ranked No. 1 in Illinois and No. 4 nationally before the season started, has been the team to watch since Day One. Mankus has made a can't-miss team just that.
The Redwings took a 36-1 record into sectionals this week, seeking the school's first state championship. Only four teams even took Benet to three games before Joliet Catholic beat the Redwings in three at Autumnfest.
"It's our senior year," Mankus said, "and we really want to go out with a bang. It's been an incredible journey. We don't want it to stop."
Mankus leads Benet in kills with 276 kills, is third in hitting percentage and first in aces with 55. The kind of numbers that make her the choice as Daily Herald All-Area captain.
"They have a lot of pieces," Downers Grove South coach Colleen Reagan said of Benet, "but when we prepare for them we talk about what we're going to do to contain her. We want to keep it away from her as much as possible."
That is saying something, when you consider the talent surrounding Mankus. Jessica Jendryk, best middle in the state, going to Illinois. High-energy outside Natalie Patzin, committed to Clemson. Middle Val Mattaliano, headed for Boston College.
Mankus is all of 5-foot-9, calm and "goofy" in her own words off the court. Underestimate her on the court and you may have a Wilson coming at your head in a hurry. Not many hit with the ferocity Mankus does.
"When she gets on a roll," Benet coach Brad Baker said, "she's pretty fun to watch."
To box in Mankus as purely a hitter, though, is to short-arm a serve into the net.
Baker said bluntly that teams "don't serve her the ball." Mankus' own jump serve is a weapon.
"She's a rock in all phases of the game," Baker said.
The intangibles Mankus possesses can't be understated, said Naperville Central senior Meghan Bray. Bray played with Mankus on the Sports Performance team. The two have become close friends off the court during high school season, competitors at game time.
"She has a lot of fire," Bray said, "and she plays with intensity all the time. How she acts, really fires you up when you play with her."
Nobody plays better under pressure situations. When Benet needs a kill to take back momentum, Mankus puts it down. Or, as she did in a thrilling three-game match against Downers Grove South this year, she will go diving into the first row of the stands to keep a rally alive.
"She's a kid that's just not very scared," Reagan said. "She never holds back. She just goes after it."
"Some kids shy away under pressure situations," Baker said. "Winners want the ball. She's a winner."
Maybe that's the kid sister in Mankus nipping at the heels of her older siblings, scrapping to win approval.
Ariana followed Margarita Mankus, two years her senior, into ballet and gymnastics when they were little. She tried basketball for a spell, started volleyball in fifth grade at St. Joan of Arc.
"Whatever she liked to do," Ariana said of Margarita, "I liked to do."
Ariana later was water girl at Benet while her oldest sisters Camille and Clarissa played.
"I guess I started from the ground up. I could never imagine playing," Ariana said.
Camille Mankus said that her little sister was very much her own person. She had no interest in "girly stuff" like Barbie dolls. Building forts with the next door neighbor was more her speed.
"She was kind of a little tomboy," Camille said.
When it came time to make the most important decision of her life, too, Ariana did not mimic the older Mankus girls.
She could have gone on to play volleyball at a strong mid-major like Miami (Ohio). Camille played two years at Illinois-Chicago.
Instead, Mankus took the road less traveled to Army. She committed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she will play volleyball, last spring.
"I felt at home when I was there," she said.
Truth be told, Ariana's dad, Tony, first broached the idea of her joining the military all the way back in sixth grade. Ariana can be an intense person, but the thought was she would flourish in an environment where everything was planned out for her.
"If volleyball didn't work out," she said, "I would have joined the military anyways."
"It was a huge shocker for all of us, especially mom, at first," Camille said, "but on further reflection we acknowledged that she thrives on a lof of discipline. It keeps her on track. A lot of structure is good for her personality."
Mankus would appear to fit the military mold, or so opposing coaches and friends think.
Camille said kid sister tried to get her to run hills with her over the summer. A little military-style preparation for the upcoming season couldn't hurt.
"She kind of looks like she could be in the Army," Bray said. "She has that tough image going on."
Ariana knows that joining the Army could one day take her to hot spots such as Iraq or Afghanistan, that joining the military right now in her words isn't necessarily "cool."
Chances are she will do desk work for the military, and women cannot use artillery. But Mankus can still count on five years of active duty and two years in the reserve after college.
Her answer to the many queries on the subject underscores the 18-year-old's maturity.
"A lot of people ask me about it, and there's always that fear in the back of my mind. But a lot can happen in four or five years," she said. "I'm a fairly gutsy person. Either way I'll take it as it comes."
You cannot blame Mankus for not getting ahead of herself. There is still so much to do this season. She isn't nearly ready for it to end.
"I look back to see how far the program has come," Mankus said, "and I take a lot of pride in being a part of that."
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