THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Playing the 5As was helpful for eventual state 4A volleyball champion Lakeland

Even though it didn't last in fall sports, the decision of Inland Empire League administrators to have the four 5A schools and three 4A schools play each other twice in one combined league this year seemed to have benefited the Lakeland High volleyball team, despite the results.

Lakeland played nine matches against 5A schools, winning three of them — two vs. Lewiston, and one vs. eventual 5A Inland Empire League champion Post Falls.

Lakeland played Coeur d'Alene three times, losing all three to a Viking team that eventually placed third at the state 5A tournament.

And the 4A Hawks, who won their first state volleyball championship in school history last weekend at Kimberly High in the Magic Valley, made an impression on Coeur d'Alene coach Carly Curtis.

"I thought they’d have a good chance down here," Curtis said Saturday night, as her Vikings were heading home from the state 5A tourney at Skyline High in Idaho Falls. "They have a good setter (Abbey Neff) that runs the court well, their libero (Olivia Cooper) is a great player, and Katy Ryan is a dominant player."

AS IT turned out, the IEL had to scrap its combined league format when 4A Moscow dropped out due to COVID-19 concerns, then dropped back in a few weeks into the season. Not all of the 5A schools were able to play Moscow twice, so the league went back to having a 5A IEL and a 4A IEL, as has been the case for more than a decade.

In any event, the Hawks agreed their experience against the 5A schools during the regular season paid off at state.

"Those 5A games were helping us ... just that level of play," Lakeland coach Kelsie Badger said. "Post Falls, we beat them in three, and that was the team I saw tonight (in a sweep of Middleton in the state 4A title match). It was nice to play those games to take our game to the next level."

"That made a huge difference," said Ryan, a lefty-swinging 6-foot-5 right side hitter who has committed to Washington State. "Playing the 5A schools made us feel like a 5A school almost, that we could compete with them."

"I think we learned that skill is a huge part of the game, but mentality is way more important," Neff said. "When you have a good mentality, and are positive ... it doesn't matter what division you're in; it's who fights the hardest. It gave us confidence."

THE LEAGUE will try a combined IEL again in basketball, as well as baseball and softball. All games count in a combined league standings, and results of all games will determine seedings as the 5As and 4As go their separate ways for regional tournaments.

It's a one-year arrangement, so it will be up to IEL officials whether to keep it next year.

But at least this year, and in particular this fall for Lakeland volleyball, the arrangement certainly helped the Hawks.

JUDD BENEDICK, in his 14th season as football coach at Mountain View High in Meridian, sounded a bit relieved after his Mavericks won 44-41 at Post Falls last Friday in the first round of the state 5A playoffs.

He recalled some recent trips up north that haven't gone too well for the Mavericks.

His team in particular — and Boise teams in general — haven't fared too well traveling to North Idaho for 5A playoff games.

Just last year, Mountain View was driving for the winning touchdown at Coeur d'Alene, when the Vikings pressured the Mavs into a prayer that was returned for a touchdown in a 31-21 Cd'A win in the quarterfinals.

In 2017, in a game moved from Coeur d'Alene to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow due to soggy field conditions, Mountain View was manhandle by the Vikings 39-13 in the state semifinals.

Since Coeur d'Alene (and Lake City) moved up to 5A in 2003, Coeur d'Alene has hosted 14 playoff games (including the aforementioned 2017 tilt in Moscow). The Vikings have won all but two of them, losing only in 2009 to Eagle in the semifinals in the snow (though not as much snow as the Vikings played in two weeks ago at Post Falls), and falling 2015 to Madison of Rexburg in the quarterfinals.

Of those, Coeur d'Alene is 10-1 at home vs. the Boise-area 5A schools in the playoffs.

Programming note: Coeur d'Alene is home vs. Timberline of Boise on Friday in a state quarterfinal matchup at Viking Field.

Lake City has played three times at home against Boise-area 5A schools in the playoffs since 2003, winning all three — most recently beating Capital of Boise in overtime in the quarterfinals in 2014.

Boise-area 5A teams have had the most success playing at Post Falls in the playoffs during this stretch.

Post Falls has played at home in the first round each of the last four years. Rocky Mountain won at Post Falls in 2017; Post Falls beat Skyview of Nampa in 2018; Timberline won at Post Falls in 2019 and Mountain View won at Trojan Stadium last week.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.