Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Hopewell's Becky Novacek, Girls' Athlete of the year.

This one was over the top -- which, considering Becky Novacek's specialty, was appropriate.

Novacek is a 6-foot-1 power forward for the Hopewell girls' basketball team. She has been a starter since the beginning of her freshman year, and, this past season, she and her twin, Joyce, helped fuel the Vikings' run to WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA titles.

Yet basketball isn't Becky Novacek's favorite sport. It's not even second.

"I like volleyball the best," she said, a tad sheepishly. "Then, it's track, then basketball."

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Though she was a linchpin on that championship squad a few months ago, and proud of it, Novacek is a premier volleyball player, one of the best in the state at the high school level. A middle hitter, she is more accomplished on that court and is more comfortable there and in the high jump pit.

In an era of specialization, when many teenage athletes compete in just one sport, especially those at a large school, Novacek excels at three. Because of her all-around proficiency, she is the Post-Gazette Female High School Athlete of the Year.

This is the second year in a row a Hopewell volleyball player has secured this honor. Christa Harmotto was selected last June, before sparkling as a freshman at Penn State.

Novacek, who will be a senior at Hopewell, has been an integral part of what has become a mini-dynasty. The Vikings have won four consecutive WPIAL Class AA championships, including three with her on board. Harmotto was a teammate on two of those title squads.

And Novacek will play volleyball well after graduation. She has accepted a full scholarship to do so at the University of Dayton.

"I just like volleyball," Novacek said. "It has more of a rhythm."

She hopes to be in sync this week. Novacek and a number of other Western Pennsylvanians, including Harmotto, play for Renaissance, a Junior Olympic team that is competing in a national tournament in Atlanta beginning today.

Though volleyball is Novacek's signature activity, she already has made an indelible mark as a high-jumper. She is a two-time WPIAL Class AAA champion and was the runner-up as a sophomore.

This spring, Novacek took gold at the WPIAL meet with a jump of 5 feet, 6 inches and earned PIAA silver with a 5-4 effort. She leaped 5-8 earlier in the season.

All that is laudable, but Hopewell track coach Kevin O'Connor has speculated that Novacek could be better in that sport if she weren't participating in others.

O'Connor said that a successful basketball season is so long, it limits the strength work he'd like Novacek to do for track.

She prefers being an athlete for all seasons.

"When I was younger, older students told me, 'You have to pick one,' " Novacek said. "But I like all three sports, and since you play only one in college, I decided to go for it."

Though basketball may be her third favorite, Novacek played with vigor in March. She was outstanding in the PIAA semifinal and final victories, registering 12 points and 10 rebounds and 13 points, 12 rebounds, respectively, as Hopewell (30-3) closed with 24 consecutive victories.

She wears her genes well, too. Twin sister Joyce was a Post-Gazette Fabulous Five selection in basketball this spring and qualified for the WPIAL track finals in the shot put. Their father, Jim, is Becky's jump coach and a former All-American pole-vaulter at Rose-Hulman Technical Institute, an NCAA Division III school.

And the girls' uncle, Jay Novacek -- Jim's brother -- was a tight end with the Dallas Cowboys.

As twins, Becky and Joyce were athletic rivals at one time. Now they compete with one another.

"We try to make each other better," Becky said. "She motivates me more school-wise, and I motivate her more athletics-wise."

Academically, Joyce is No. 1 in the Hopewell class of 2007. Becky is in the top 10.

That means the Novaceks are thriving in the brain game as well.