Knoch volleyball coach Diane Geist has been at the helm of the Knights for 31 years. Saturday will be her first state championship appearance.

They have 47 years of volleyball coaching experience between them.

They have accumulated about 500 wins.

But on Saturday, Knoch's Diane Geist and Freeport's Tom Phillips will do something they've never done before.

Coach their teams in a state championship match.

Knoch plays Allentown Central Catholic at 3 p.m. at Richland High School in Johnstown in the PIAA 3A title match. Freeport plays at 1 p.m. against Delone Catholic.

The teams will be rooting for each other.

“My fingers are crossed for Diane and her team,” Phillips said. “We go back for so many years. We were in the same section for awhile. We'll be rooting for them.”

Knoch was cheering hard for Freeport Tuesday. The Knights were scheduled to play after the Yellowjackets, and members of the Knoch volleyball team sat in the corner of the gymnasium at Seneca Valley High School and rooted for Freeport.

“I think it's pretty neat,” said Geist, who lives in Freeport. “Some of our girls play on some teams with some of their girls.”

Phillips has coached Knoch standout Sarah Armahizer in club volleyball and the two are close.

The two teams also had quite the battle when both played in the same WPIAL section.

They played a five-set thriller in 2013 in the WPIAL semifinals. In that match, Freeport overcame a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2. The victory sent the Yellowjackets to the district final.

Knoch and Freeport continued to play each other even while in different sections and classifications. The Knights beat the Yellowjackets for the first time in five years this season, sweeping Freeport, 3-0.

Combatants on the court, they will be the other's biggest fans off of it Saturday.

And players on each team are thrilled they were able to get their coaches to the state final.“Just to do that for him — he puts in so much time and so much effort — is special,” Crytzer said.Phillips told his team earlier in the week that it was his longtime dream to make the state final.He said he hesitated to tell his players that because he feared it would put even more pressure on them.But his Yellowjackets responded.“It's about playing for each other,” Phillips said. “That's what it's all about.”Knoch players shared the same sentiment about Geist, who has also had great teams and standout players over her three decades as the coach, but had never gotten this far.“I'm so happy we could be the team to do it for her,” said Knoch senior Kenzie McDowell. “She's a great coach.”

Freeport volleyball coach Tom Phillips will be making his first appearance in the state final in his 16th year.