JEFFERSON TWP — Freeport volleyball coach Tom Phillips approached Knoch senior middle hitter Sarah Armahizer and gave her a bear hug.

“I love you like a daughter,” Phillips said. “You know that.”

Phillips, though, doesn't love playing against Armahizer.

He has coached the Knoch star for several years in club volleyball and has seen first-hand how difficult — if not downright impossible — it is to contain her.

It's even more challenging when Armahizer is on the other side of the net, as she was Monday when Freeport squared off against Knoch.

“It's just one of those situations where you're not going to stop her,” Phillips said. “She's going to get her kills and she's going to get her points. I've seen so many teams play Knoch where they try to triple-block her.”

Even that doesn't work.

Phillips had one of his setters play at the net in his rotation in Freeport's 3-1 loss to Knoch to give him three defenders on the floor when Armahizer was in the middle.

Armahizer still finished with 12 kills.

Armahizer, like any good hitter worth her weight in knee pads, said she is only the last link in a chain.

“I really wouldn't be able to do it without setters and passers, you know what I mean?” Armahizer said. “It's not just me, it's them. Most of the time. All of the time.”

It's a little bit Armahizer, though.

She has an innate ability when she's in the air to find the open spot, whether it's with a thunderous swing of her powerful right arm, or merely a gentle tip with her fingers.

“Whenever I go up, I don't have it pre-planned before a play,” Armahizer said. “I just go up and do whatever comes naturally.”

Armahizer has been a fixture in the middle for Knoch since her freshman season.

She's continued to improve and is now one of the main cogs on a Knoch team that is 10-0 and thinking big things this fall.

Armahizer has also been a mentor to a slew of promising young hitters like sophomores Hannah Rowe and Kennedy Christy.

“They are like sisters to me,” Armahizer said. “It's just amazing to me that they look up to me.”

Armahizer is particularly close with Rowe, who has become a force in her own right as an outside hitter.

“We're best friends,” Armahizer said. “We're attached at each other's hip. She has that natural athletic instinct. She's just a good, athletic player. I don't need to tell her what to do. She knows what to do.”

Still, Armahizer has embraced her role as team leader.

Knoch coach Diane Geist has seen Armahizer's maturity over the years first-hand.

“She still likes to joke around and have fun, but when it comes down to the game, she's all business,” Geist said. “When things aren't going well, she's the first one saying, 'It's OK. We're fine. We're fine.' She keeps a level head when she's out there and she never gets fazed.”

Even with a lot of weapons, Armahizer is still the go-to player on the court, Geist said.

“She's a person when we need a kill, we go to her,” Geist said. “If we need something to win a game, we set Sarah.”

Armahizer doesn't take that responsibility lightly.

“When the ball is in the air, the only thing I'm thinking is, 'Just finish,'” Armahizer said. “I feel like my team is putting a lot of trust in me to do this and I'm doing it for them.”

To further hone her volleyball skills, Armahizer gave up another sport she loved last year when she left the Knoch girls basketball team.

She said it was a very difficult decision to leave her friends.

Her basketball teammates, though, have talked her into playing again this winter.

“I couldn't say no to them,” Armahizer said, smiling.

Armahizer still plans on playing volleyball in college, although she hasn't decided on a school yet.

West Virginia Wesleyan is the favorite so far, Armahizer said.

She looked at Division I schools, but even at 6-foot-1, height has been an issue.

“I'm a little short for a middle (hitter) at D-I, so it's a bit scary,” Armahizer said. “Going that other step is big. I want to get practice on the right side and outside and see where that puts me.”

Where Armahizer is now is a pretty enviable place.

Dominant player on a dominant team.

“I'm so excited,” she said. “I really want to push it this year and we are.”