THE FRONT ROW BY JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, October 14, 2015

For St. Maries High senior Alexis Cordell, it’s all business.

On the volleyball or basketball court, classroom or softball diamond, Cordell is focused on taking care of whatever needs to be done.

CORDELL, A 5-foot-9 right side hitter and two-year varsity player for the volleyball team, is heavily involved with extra-curricular activities at St. Maries, where she’s a straight-A student and involved with Business Professionals of America and the Associated Student Body, where she’s the senior class secretary.

“I’m just really involved with school,” Cordell said. “I’m always doing homework, and help with community service projects for the Elks Club and helping others. I think it’s good to get involved with the community so you can reach out to them. This community supports us all the time, so it’s good to support them. It’s a good way to all stay connected.”

The population of St. Maries is estimated at 2,400.

“Everybody knows everybody,” Cordell said. “You always know that somebody is going to be there for you if things go bad and it’s a safe place to be. You know what’s going on and what’s happening in the community. It’s really close-knit, and I like it.”

Cordell, who qualified for BPA Nationals as a junior, plans on attending Boise State next fall to major in business studies.

“I’m pretty set on Boise State right now,” Cordell said. “Both of my older brothers went there and they just build a new business school, and I really like it. I think I’m going to move to a bigger city, or wherever my education takes me. But St. Maries is a great place to come back to and will be a good place to come back and settle down when I’m ready to do so.”

THE CLOSE community was more evident during Friday’s practice when some former Lumberjack players scrimmaged against the current team a day before the team played a pair of Central Idaho League matches at Grangeville High.

“I think it’s really cool that they come do that,” Cordell said. “They’re all from when St. Maries went to state each year and won. It’s cool to know they’ve got that talent over there (on the other side of the net) and we can play with them, and it’s not a blowout. We’re always trying to bring more alumni back and parents to the games.”

And when things aren’t going quite right, then they can turn to Mitch Santos — who coached the Lumberjacks to 11 state A-2 championships and 10 straight from 1984-1993 — who shows up occasionally to practices.

“It’s great that he takes the time to come and talk to us,” Cordell said of Santos. “We all take what he tells us and it’s awesome that he does it because of his standing in St. Maries volleyball.”

“In our community, we get quite a bit of support and have a wide variety of girls that played on those teams still around,” said second-year St. Maries coach Amy Scheer. “Mitch still comes in from time to time, and it’s nice to have that combination. It just helps them playing a level up during practices, and they do scrimmage the junior varsity girls. But it also helps them being in those intense games.”

THE LUMBERJACKS enter the 2A District 1-2 tournament with a 16-1 record after sweeping through the Central Idaho League this season. Districts begin Saturday at Troy High.

“I think our team works really well together and closer than some of the others I’ve played on,” Cordell said. “We’re getting better at talking to each other during the games and working at getting out of sticky situations.”

And that has had a lot to do with Cordell as well.

“This year, Alexis has stepped up and became a leader,” Scheer said. “She has a great personality and just takes charge on the court. I’ve coached her all four years, and to watch her grow as a player is probably the most awesome thing as a coach to see. Really, this year, she’s just fully developed into the athlete that anyone would want to coach. She comes ready to practice each and every day. She leads with her voice, and makes sure to use it.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.