JEFFERSON TWP — Kennedy Christy has made it a priority to glean as much as she can from senior Sarah Armahizer.

“I've learned so much from her,” said Christy, a sophomore middle hitter for the Knoch volleyball team. “She tells me where to hit. She helps me in practice. Everything I do she helps me with and it's so great to have a mentor like that.”

She has proven to be a quick study.

Christy had 12 kills and the match-winning ace in the fourth set to lead the Knights to a 21-25, 25-17, 25-17, 26-24 win over Mars on a night at Knoch High School that more resembled a playoff match than a section-opener.

“It's a rivalry game,” Christy said. “I knew going into it we had to play hard and well because they always bring it when they play us,” Christy said. “It was so nice to be so fired up and hyped on the court in the first game. It was nice.”

For Knoch coach Diane Geist, it was a little too nerve-wracking.

“I give Mars a ton of credit,” Geist said between swigs from her bottle of water. “Mars was hungry and at times they wanted it more than us. We can play better than we played. I'm just happy that we pulled it out.”

Knoch is a senior-laden team, but a pair of sophomores came through for the Knights.

In addition to Christy, sophomore outside hitter Hannah Rowe also had a big night at the net with 12 kills.

“It took Kennedy a while to get going,” Geist said. “She got it going later. She's confident. She was calling for sets. She wanted that ball.

“We just moved (Rowe) to the outside,” Geist added, “so she's still getting a feel for it. She'll get better. She's a high-jumper, so if she just swings high at the top of her jump, she'll be alright. She thinks about it too much. She's a perfectionist.”

Mars trailed 12-5 in the first set, but rallied to take an 18-17 lead and outlasted Knoch for a 1-0 lead.

Planets' coach Tami Caraway was happy with her team's quick start.

“I was very pleased with what I saw,” Caraway said. “There are not many kids who started last year. Nobody is probably going to win the section with no losses — there's too many talented teams.”

Knoch used 10 consecutive points in the second set to cruise to a win and then took the third in a set it never trailed for a 2-1 advantage.

It was a different story in the fourth.

Mars took a quick 7-3 lead and then held off several Knoch rallies to go up 23-20.

The Knights, however, got a pair of kills from Christy, an ace from Carly Bozzo and a big kill by Sarah Armahizer, who finished with 11 kills and 10 blocks, to get match point.

“I was saying, 'This is a good time for an ace,'” Geist said.

The coach got it off a serve from Christy to end the match and send the well-represented Knoch fans into a frenzy.

Geist was happy to escape with the win in the fourth set. She didn't want to go to a decisive fifth.

“They hit smarter than we did. We were fortunate there,” Geist said. “If we went to game five ... they had the momentum. That was scary. They have a lot of heart.”

Junior Alayna Chizmar had nine kills and senior Sydney Amell, who missed all of last season due to injury, added five kills and three aces.

Sophia Lamm had 39 assists for the Planets.

“If this is where we start,” Caraway said, “I'm so excited to see where we finish.”