One evening, not long after Katie Kabbes completed her freshman volleyball season at Cardinal Gibbons, the phone in the family’s Cary home rang like it did on so many other nights.

A family friend called to tell Kabbes there was something she might be interested to see on the Web site prepvolleyball.com, which serves more or less as the online hub for junior volleyball in the United States.

In the site’s year-end awards, Kabbes was among the seven finalists for freshman of the year.

“‘Oh my gosh. I’m one of the best seven players in my freshman class?’” Kabbes recalled recently, the bewilderment still apparent three years later. “That was the moment it hit me. This is what I want to do. This isn’t a fun hobby, it’s what I want to do the rest of my life.”

Kabbes, now a 6-foot-5-inch senior outside hitter, proceeded to rewrite the voluminous Cardinal Gibbons record books, become one of the most sought-after recruits in the Class of 2008 and compile a résumé that warrants inclusion in the discussion of the best volleyball players ever to pass through North Carolina.

Kabbes holds school records for career kills (1,460 and counting) career aces (217 and counting) and kills in a season (438 and counting).

The Crusaders have appeared in the state final the last three seasons and have won two straight NCHSAA 2-A state championships. Last November, Kabbes had 17 kills and was the MVP in Gibbons’ sweep of West Henderson in the state final.

She was then named the N.C. Gatorade Player of the Year and was a prepvolleyball.com All-American.

Barring a stunning upset in Tuesday’s regional final in Kill Devil Hills — Gibbons is 27-0 against North Carolina teams this season — Kabbes will complete her prep playing days Saturday night in the 2-A final at Reynolds Coliseum.

Though her days are numbered in Gibbons black and green, she’s not quite ready to reflect.

“When it ends, that’s when I’ll look back more,” said Kabbes, who will play next year at Penn State, currently the No. 2 ranked team in the country. “It’s not over yet. But when it’s done, I’ll be like, ‘Wow. So far, that’s been the best four years of my life.’”

While Kabbes had her volleyball epiphany after her freshman season, Jim Freeman, the Crusaders coach, knew before she played her first match at Gibbons that she was special.

He coached Kabbes’ two older sisters, Lindsey and Kelly who each went on to play in college, and he had tutored Katie from a young age at volleyball camps.

Once she started playing year-round with Triangle Volleyball Club in the eighth grade, it was clear she would be “off-the-charts good,” Freeman said.

Aside from her size, she’s blessed with athleticism. Even the untrained eye can watch Kabbes for just a few points and see there’s nothing she cannot do on a volleyball court.

“She has excellent hand-eye coordination, and she’s a very experienced player,” Freeman said. “There’s not anything she hasn’t seen before. She has a trick in her bag for any strategy, every offensive shot you could want.”

Kabbes also has what teammate and best friend Katie Camp calls a “secret competitiveness.”

“She’s very loose and she’s very competitive. It’s kind of weird,” Camp said. “… She will not lose. She will do everything for the team to win.”

Kabbes doesn’t overflow with emotion. Her demeanor rarely changes on the court, regardless of getting a kill, a block or hitting a shot out of bounds. When matches get tight, she remains even keeled, which keeps the team loose.

“Under pressure, she’s calm and everything,” said Gibbons setter Molly Krull. “It’s a good example for us so we don’t get tense when we’re playing a really hard team.”

As a result, the Crusaders have compiled a staggering 117-13 record during the last four seasons.

Freeman admits having Kabbes and Camp, a 6-foot-5-inch middle blocker bound for UCLA, has been an embarrassment of riches during the last four years. Having one player like that is every coach’s dream. Having two at the same time is nearly unfathomable.

The two Katies have become synonymous with Gibbons volleyball, and it’s impossible to mention one without the other. Both are exceptional talents, and they push each other to always improve.

“She inspires me each day to get better,” Camp said. “She could be like, ‘I’m a good volleyball player. I don’t want to make anyone else get better.’ She doesn’t do that. I’ve gotten so much better learning from her [and] I respect her so much.”

Kabbes also has the respect of her opponents and fans.

In a playoff game against Farmville Central last week, Kabbes smacked searing kills at the helpless visitors during her team’s three-game sweep. Some found themselves laughing after trying to dig a kill only to have it bounce off their forearms and go rattling around the gymnasium’s rafters.

Shortly after, those same players asked Kabbes if she would pose for a few pictures with them.

Later in the week, after another dominating playoff win, a mother guided her pre-teen daughter, who clung by her mother’s side as if she were going to the dentist’s chair for the first time, across the gym just to introduce themselves and say hello.

Kabbes’ humility tells her these people approach her in awe simply because she’s tall.

But she’s the once-in-a-generation-type of athlete onlookers can’t help but be attracted to and years later have an anecdote about that they’ll gladly share with anyone who will listen.

While Kabbes stands above her peers, she doesn’t coast on her talent. Last summer, she was one of 18 players in a youth national team camp. Being in that environment, with 17 other girls with similar resumes, serves as constant motivation to keep working and improving.

“It took me a while to realize I was good at this sport,” she said. “Once I realized that and played on the national team and was surrounded by people that are better than me and knowing what a great athlete is, I think I’m not there. I have to work every day to get there.”