Karissa Ciliento loves art.

Known for her intensity on the volleyball court, painting and drawing affords the Mahwah senior chances to relax.

"I’ve always been drawn to art," said Ciliento, The Record Female Athlete of the Week. "I would always draw, but I never took it seriously."

Ciliento has taken art classes throughout high school and has framed some of her paintings for friends and family members. She considers her artistic ability an untapped talent, though, because Ciliento hasn’t been able to commit enough time to the craft.

That’s because Ciliento has been busy developing into one of the top outside hitters in New Jersey. Her power, combined with tremendous leaping ability and terrific court sense, has helped her record 1,007 career kills entering 16-4 Mahwah’s match against Demarest today.

Ciliento, an A student, also serves as a leader who often encourages teammates to believe that they can reach heights this season that Mahwah’s program hasn’t approached. The Thunderbirds made it to the Group 2 semifinals last year, but Ciliento hopes they can cap her senior season with the program’s first State championship.

No matter how far into November the Thunderbirds play, Ciliento is extremely pleased she chose to concentrate on volleyball over basketball and softball. She played those two sports since childhood, but really "fell in love" with volleyball once she started playing it at a competitive level in eighth grade.

The 5-foot-10 Ciliento, who competes for Mahwah’s indoor and outdoor track teams, gave up basketball because she made a time-consuming commitment to play for the Atlantic Valley Volleyball Club, a respected traveling team that she helped reach the Junior Olympic Championships in July in Miami. Ciliento hasn’t picked a college, but playing on the challenging club circuit has better prepared her to perform for one of the numerous Division I volleyball programs that are recruiting her.

Also nominated: Alyssa LaGuardia of DePaul for cross-country. Sloan DePiero of Ramsey for soccer. Samantha Balenevsky of Dwight-Englewood for tennis and Jessica Dittmer of Indian Hills, Lindsay Runge of Demarest and Jessie Shevins of Tenafly for volleyball.