PIAA, WPIAL champion Knoch girls volleyball aims at repeat

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 2, 2018 | 10:24 PM

It’s nearly impossible to resist a two-for-one deal, even if they come in the form of championship titles.

And the best deals tend to be the ones that come out of nowhere. After 33 years of coaching Knoch girls volleyball, Diane Geist and her newly crowned WPIAL Class AAA champion Knoch Knights were standing on the floor of the Richland High School gymnasium in Johnstown and looking for the cashier to check them out with their PIAA title.

“I wasn’t expecting the state title,” Geist said. “The WPIAL (title) is really awesome because we’ve never gotten that far. Its a feeling of joy that never goes way.”

The Knights dominated opponents last season. Geist has a knack of keeping her players humble and not reading the press clippings. Knoch was loaded last season but a short conversation with Geist and one would walk away thinking they may not win a set all season.

“I always put pressure on myself,” Geist said.

Knoch (24-0) rolled through it’s competition last year en route to earning a No. 1 seed in the WPIAL bracket. The Knights dominated in the postseason and would not lose a set until the championship match against Montour. Montour came back a few weeks later in the PIAA semifinals to force a fifth set before the Knights survived and advanced into the PIAA finals. Montour did Knoch a favor by pushing it to the brink because the Knights would have to dig deep once again when they needed five sets in a come-from-behind effort against Allentown Central Catholic to complete the two-for-one deal and capture the state title.

“We’ve talked about (repeat), and I asked them if they wanted to talk about last year or put it behind us,” Geist said. “They still want to talk about last year at times and what went good.”

Sooner or later, the Knights are going to have to put it all behind them. Almost a year later, the medals are tucked away, the plaques are in the trophy case and despite losing four senior starters off of last year’s team, Knoch is again one of the favorites in the WPIAL, and the state, to cash in on another two-for-one deal.

“I’m not going to lie, we’re stacked this year,” said senior setter, and captain, Kerri Fitzpatrick. “I still think we’re stacked because a lot of our girls play club (volleyball), and I think that we just have an athletic team and we don’t let balls drop.”

The Knights aren’t short on confidence, and they shouldn’t be, but there’s incredible pressures that mount as the season approaches. There’s always the age-old question, “Can you repeat?”

“That’s the first question that comes out of everybody’s mouth,” Geist said. “I say, ‘We graduated six seniors, and we have one senior this year.’ I’d probably be rich if I had a dollar for everyone who said that.”

If one can believe it, the Knights could be more athletic than last year’s team and with return of Fitzpatrick at setter placing perfect kill shots, the Knights shouldn’t be underestimated. Knoch has 26 players, with the majority also playing junior varsity. Geist said there’s ton of talent on the floor but plenty of room on the bench, and if there is one weakness, it could be depth.

“This year a lot of girls are playing the whole way around, front row and back row,” Geist said.

Junior outside hitter Hannah Rowe is back. Rowe stands at 6-foot-1 and has ‘big ups’; she won the WPIAL Class 3A high- jump title as a freshman, gave up the sport, and is now a full-time volleyball player. Junior Skylar Burkett will get the start on the other side.

Another junior in 5-foot-11 Kennedy Christy has found a home at the middle-hitter spot.

“Hanna Rowe is playing back row this year, and she’s never done that before,” Geist said. “Kennedy Christy has gotten even stronger and there will be even more attention on Kennedy than last year.”

There’s a battle at right side between Quinn Hughes and Morgan Frishcorn. One position the Knights could be inexperienced at is the libero spot where Kenzie Kerkan will start for the first time. Kerkan has plenty of talent but experience could be her achilles heal. Junior Ally Albert and Kate McCourty will also get some starts.

“We have two players, they’re both juniors, in (Burkett) and (Kerken) who would have been starters on any other team but we were so stacked (last season),” Fitzpatrick said. “They’re all capable and we don’t have anyone struggling.”

The Knights will begin the defense of their section, WPIAL and PIAA titles on Sept. 4 when Knoch opens up Section 4-3A play verse Blackhawk at home.

“I think we have a competitive team and everybody is energized and confident,” Geist said.

“Motivation isn’t much of an issue with this group.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.