JEFFERSON TWP — Once Diane Geist found volleyball, the sport wouldn't let her go.

The 1979 Freeport graduate was a softball and basketball player in high school who readily admits she thought volleyball was “a sissy sport.”

“The only reason I began playing was because my best friend in school (Valley softball coach Carol Perroz) and I dared each other to go out for volleyball.

“Once I started playing, I really enjoyed it. It just clicked with me. The volleys, the rallies ... I gained new respect for the sport.”

Now in her 28th season as Knoch varsity volleyball coach, Geist sports a 352-113 overall record with the Knights. Her teams have been to the WPIAL playoffs 14 consecutive years.

Geist has the longest tenure among all Butler County High school fall sports coaches. Seneca Valley golf coach Steve Mayes is in his 25th season.

But her volleyball career nearly ended before it got started — a couple of times.

“I went to Indiana (Pa.) University and was still raw when it came to playing volleyball,” Geist said. “I wasn't planning on playing there. Then a friend of mine talked me into walking on because they were looking for players.

“After my freshman year, I actually left the team. I bumped into the senior captain on campus who asked where I was, that they missed me in practice. So I came back.”

Upon graduating from IUP, Geist applied for the volleyball coaching opening at Valley and didn't get it.

Fred Bernard, a friend and physical education teacher at Knoch, told her Knoch was looking for a coach. Geist applied and the rest is history.

And she's still making history.

“The success of Diane's program is unparalleled here,” Knoch athletic director and football coach Mike King said. “She runs the program the way it should be run.

“She meets with parents and players at the beginning of each year, explains how the program is run, what's expected, and then she wins. Nobody wins more consistently.”

Geist has never had a losing season with the Knights. Her team has reached the WPIAL Finals one time, losing to Hopewell.

“That was the year they had Christa Harmatto, who went on to play at Penn State and played on the U.S. Olympic team,” Geist recalled. “That was the wrong year to play Hopewell.”

An art teacher at Knoch High School since 1994, Geist was a volleyball coach before becoming a teacher.

“Volleyball has changed so much of my life ... I wonder where my life would be without it,” she said. “I wouldn't be a teacher without it. I wouldn't have met my husband (longtime Knoch trainer John Geist) without it.”

Knoch has 36 players in its volleyball program this season. Geist has rarely cut players from tryouts.

“I cut some players six or seven years ago and hated it. I'm a big wimp,” she said. “I remember years when we were hurting for numbers and I was recruiting cheerleaders.”

Numbers haven't been a problem with Knoch volleyball for years. The program routinely gets 30 or more girls.

“The stability Diane brings to the program has a lot to do with that,” King said. “The tradition is there. The girls want to be a part of it and they enjoy playing for her.”

Geist estimates she's sent close to 50 players on to college volleyball in her career. Her first assistant coach was Jennifer Crouch Kopac, a 2010 inductee into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. Geist coached her in high school and new coaches her daughter, freshman Abby Kopac.

Another one of her former players, Jamie (Bzorek) Lampus, came back to coach Knoch's junior high team.

“You love when your players get into coaching. It shows you've made an impact,” Geist said.

Geist has impacted hundreds of athletes during her career at Knoch.

“The run of success she's had at the same school for this long is a great accomplishment,” King said.

While a WPIAL championship has eluded her, Geist's thirst for competition has never been quenched.

“It seems like our section gets tougher every year,” she said. “We're trying to position ourselves for the playoffs, but it's never a guarantee.

“I don't know if we'll ever get a WPIAL title. But it sure is fun trying.”