The Front Row with MARK NELKE September 23, 2010

Colleen Frohlich likely made a trip or two to Twin Falls during her prep volleyball career at Coeur d'Alene High.

Frohlich, now the first-year volleyball coach at North Idaho College, and her 17th-ranked Cardinals will visit the Magic Valley for the third time in five weekends when they open Scenic West Athletic Conference play Saturday at No. 7 College of Southern Idaho.

The teams have met once this season, with CSI winning in three games at its own season-opening tourney.

NIC, which defeated the Spokane All-Stars in four games at home on Wednesday, began the week with a 13-5 record. Frohlich used many of those matches to figure out what kind of lineup she could use when the matches really counted.

What has she learned so far?

"We have a lot of competitors on this team, a lot of leadership," Frohlich said. "We're still up and down mentally, but we're developing. The younger players are showing some leadership."

Returnee Tina Strahinic has been a mainstay, and Fei Gao, a returning honorable mention All-American, has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

Among the newcomers who have stepped up, Frohlich said, include middle blockers Danielle Hodge and Janele Vogt, and setter Gabriella Rifilato.

Heading into the season it appeared the usual suspects - CSI, second-ranked Salt Lake and NIC - would battle it out for the SWAC and Region 18 title. NIC lost to Salt Lake 16-14 in the fifth set in its first match of the season. Frohlich tosses Snow into that mix as well. NIC beat Snow in five, also at the first CSI tourney, then beat the Badgers in three last week.

"In our league, everybody has to bring their 'A' game, because certainly the competition is high," she said.

So now that I've seen the three local 5A high school football teams play once each, I can safely say the best team so far is ...

... hard to tell.

Lake City (1-2) looked like it had put last year's 3-7 season behind it with an impressive showing at Lakeland in the season opener. But against a couple of tougher 5A foes, the Timberwolves lost 27-20 to a comeback by Mountain View of Meridian, then fell 32-7 to Capital at Bronco Stadium in Boise. Lake City was idle last week.

Coeur d'Alene (2-1) overpowered 4A Moscow 42-19 in its opener, then looked impressive in a 31-0 lightning-shortened victory over Moses Lake. Against its best opponent, the Vikings led 17-0 before falling 36-34 at Skyview High in Vancouver, Wash. The Viks were also off last week.

Post Falls (3-0) has plowed through its three opponents by a combined 156-32, but it's hard to tell how good the Trojans really are because their opponents were so overmatched.

We'll find out for real on Oct. 1, when Post Falls visits Lake City to begin 5A IEL play. Post Falls hosts Coeur d'Alene on Oct. 22 and hosts Lewiston on Oct. 29 in the final week of the season.

Coeur d'Alene visits Lewiston on Oct. 15 and hosts Lake City on Oct. 29. Lake City travels to Lewiston on Oct. 8.

I'm sure few people had Lake City in their 5A IEL pool last season, but the Timberwolves - despite losing all six of its nonleague games - won all three league games to snatch another league title.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.