It's been a life-changing year for Gina Mancuso.

It began with a prominent role on the United States junior national volleyball team last summer, helping the Americans win the NORCECA Junior Continental Championships. It continued through the high school volleyball season that included a second straight Class A championship for Papillion-La Vista and some impressive honors.

As the first Gatorade National Player of the Year girls honoree from Nebraska in any sport, Mancuso is now a finalist for national high school athlete of the year, meaning she'll be at the ESPY Awards next month in Los Angeles.

While all the honors and all the attention has been life-changing, the NU recruit says fame hasn't changed her.

"I'm still just Gina," said Mancuso, the 2009 Lincoln Journal Star Co-Girls Athlete of the Year. "I'm very blessed and very thankful for everything that's happened. But now I have to back it up with my play, and hopefully live up to everyone's expectations."

Mancuso certainly lived up to expectations last fall, leading the Monarchs to a 41-1 record and a No. 6 national ranking. The three-time first-team Super-Stater was dynamic at the net with 721 kills and a .452 hitting efficiency.

Mancuso was valuable even when she wasn't swinging. She was not only a primary passer, she led the team with 373 digs.

It all began with her experience on the national team.

"Getting in and doing so well (on the national team) helped my confidence a ton," Mancuso said. "I had great training and great coaching through the whole thing, so it was one of the best experiences I've ever had in volleyball."

In turn, Mancuso helped her teammates and coaches have one of their best volleyball experiences during the high school season.

"Gina's the real deal, and she not only set the tone for Monarch volleyball, but for Monarch athletics in general," volleyball coach JJ Toczek said. "She was more than just the Gatorade National Player of the Year to us. She was also the homecoming queen, an academic all-stater with a 4.0 (GPA) and someone who was active in a lot of things at school."

The younger sister of former Husker Dani Mancuso and the youngest of six siblings, Gina was also a second-team all-state basketball player. The four-year starter averaged 15.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and four steals her senior season.

"Gina could've been a Division I (college) basketball player, no doubt about it," basketball coach Dave Hubert said. "Being as tall and athletic as she was, we played her from shooting guard to center. Her athleticism and awareness of how to win was unmatched."

Mancuso used her speed and jumping ability to qualify for the state track meet as a freshman, sophomore and junior, winning medals in the 800 meters (third in 2006 and seventh in 2008) and the high jump (fourth in '07 and seventh in '08).

Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.