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THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Ann (Schwenke) Jaworski, former Coeur d’Alene High, Montana volleyball great, stood just 5-6 ‘on a proud day,’ but played ‘like a giant’ when it mattered

| April 15, 2021 1:30 AM

At an early age, Ann (Schwenke) Jaworski fell in love with volleyball.

Growing up in Coeur d’Alene, she had goals of playing setter at the NCAA Division I level.

“And then I stopped growing,” she recalled of her early years at Coeur d’Alene High.

“That was a huge obstacle for me to overcome, and my dad (Larry) helped me with that. He really encouraged me to think outside of the box — what were some of the other aspects of the game that I could work on that would overcome the fact that I’m not 6 feet tall?

“Can I be a better leader?

“Could I work on my defense?

Jaworski said she was probably listed a little taller in the program but admitted, “On a really proud day, I’m 5-6.”

“I can’t think myself taller, but I can think myself to be more aggressive, or be a better leader,” she decided. “So I was focusing on being a great athlete, and having the work ethic and leadership piece to strive to be the best I could be in those areas.”

Jaworski helped Coeur d’Alene win its first (and only) state high school volleyball championship as a senior in 1987, then went on to a record-setting career at Montana, where the Griz qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time, and Jaworski remains the school’s all-time leader in assists.

On Saturday, Jaworski will be one of four people inducted into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame at the North Idaho sports awards banquet at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“When I heard that Ann was getting this award I was like, I’m so blessed that I was fortunate enough to have her as a teammate,” said Colleen (Jantz) Frohlich, who played with Jaworski all three years at Coeur d’Alene, then four more years at Montana. “And above everything else, I got to play with her for seven years and develop that friendship and that leadership and that trust in her. I’m just really excited for her.”

Jaworski, former Lakeland High, North Idaho (Junior) College and Washington State standout Dick Schultz, and former University of Idaho football players Jason Shelt and Robert Young were supposed to be inducted last year — but COVID happened.

When Jaworski was selected for the Hall more than a year ago, she got the word from her father, Larry — the longtime Coeur d’Alene High coach and administrator who was inducted into the North Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.

“It’s such an honor to share that with him; I’m just overwhelmed by it,” Jaworski said. “To have that with my dad is really special. My dad was just so instrumental in my career as a volleyball player, and really my whole life. He was the person who pushed me, and encouraged me. He definitely helped me with that mental part of the game, giving me confidence to play to the best of my ability.”

ONE DAY when Jaworski was in high school, she got home from school and her dad called her down to the basement.

“Hey, I’ve got something for you to try,” he said.

“He handed me a fishing vest,” Ann recalled. “So I put the fishing vest on. And then he gave me these bungee cords, and he hooked bungee cords from the fishing vest down to these eye hooks that he had bolted into the floor. And that became my jumping machine. And it was positioned in front of our TV, and we had this long phone cord that would stretch all the way over to the machine, so when I would talk on the phone with my friends, I’d be jumping … I jumped and jumped. I increased my vertical to the point that I could play in the front row, because I could still block.”

Jaworski ran a 5-1 offense, and when she got to Montana, she was determined to stay on the court when she played in the front row, rather than be replaced by a taller player for those three rotations.

“Ann played like a giant,” Frohlich recalled. “A giant heart. A giant knowledge of the game. I remember as freshmen, we went to play Long Beach State (which would win the NCAA title the following season). She went up and she stuff-blocked Tara Cross-Battle (who would play in the 1992 Summer Olympics with Team USA). Who cares if you go on to win or lose that match — my little 5-6, 5-7 setter stuffed her completely. That speaks to where, if you’re vertically challenged, sometimes your heart and your will and your desire will get the job done.”

In 1985, when Jaworski (and Frohlich) made the varsity as sophomores, the Vikings hadn’t had much success in volleyball — Coeur d’Alene was a football and basketball town.

Just before the ‘85 season, The Press interviewed Kent Scanlon, who had come up from California to take over the Viking volleyball program.

“He told The Press that he needed three years,” Jaworski recalled. “Give him three years, and he’ll build a state championship volleyball team.

“We were a little shocked, but we were inspired,” Jaworski said. “It was a very well-thought-out plan, there was strategy involved to getting from Point A when we were sophomores to winning a state championship when we were seniors.”

In 1987, Jaworski’s senior year, the Viking volleyball team’s motto was “All the marbles.” Sure enough, the story goes, after Coeur d’Alene won the state title, at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Scanlon handed out little bags of marbles to each of his players.

“It was awesome,” Jaworski recalled. “I still have it.”

Back then, Jaworski recalled, the only club volleyball experience she had was, her senior year after she’d already signed with Montana, playing on a North Idaho all-star team coached by former Coeur d’Alene, Lake City and NIC coach Bret Taylor at a tournament in California. Jantz and Karla (Yrjana) Mitchell were among the others on that team.

“Back then … we didn’t specialize,” Jaworski said. “When it was volleyball season, we played volleyball, and then the day after volleyball got done, it was basketball season. And then when basketball got done, it was softball season.”

Jaworski played guard for Dave Fealko on the Viking basketball team. She played outfield on Coeur d’Alene’s softball team, which played slowpitch then, and was coached by her dad.

“I’m grateful that I lived in that era that we did that,” Jaworski said of playing multiple sports. “I feel like I developed as an athlete. Every sport I was in, really helped me with the other sports. I never got burned out. Ever. I loved the sport I was in; I just think today it’s so different. I think kids today deserve a break, and they don’t get a break very often.”

JAWORSKI WAS recruited mostly by Big Sky schools for volleyball. She recalled taking all five recruiting trips — among them to Boise State, Weber State, Montana, and one to Michigan.

Her decision, in the spring of 1988, came down to Boise State, where many of her high school friends were going, and Montana, where she had lived briefly growing up — Larry grew up in Whitefish, mom Laurie grew up in Havre.

“I had kind of made up my mind to go to Boise State,” Jaworski said, “and my parents took me out to dinner because I told them I was ready to sign, and ready to tell them my decision. We got to dinner and I told them, and we came home that night, and I didn’t sleep a wink. And the next day I was supposed to sign. And I got up and I told them that I changed my mind and I was going to Montana.”

What changed your mind?

“I really don’t know,” Jaworski said. “I’m so grateful I ended up there. It was the perfect place for me. I don’t really remember why, but it (the decision to go to BSU) wasn’t really sitting well with me; I just knew there was something … I don’t know. … It just didn’t feel right. I thought it was the right thing to do, but in the end it didn’t feel right.

“I woke up the next day, and I told them I was changing my mind, and then I felt good. So I knew it was the right decision.”

Later that spring, as it turned out, Frohlich also signed with Montana, in part because of Jaworski.

“I was young, didn’t know what I wanted to do,” recalled Frohlich, a middle blocker/outside hitter. “I loved both basketball and volleyball, and kinda knew I wanted to go away, and when Montana showed interest in me, and I knew Ann was going there, it made that decision very easy, to have someone from home, and a good friend and a great athlete for sure. … it enticed me to come here for sure.”

Frohlich was NIC’s volleyball coach for one season (2010) before returning to Missoula, where’s coached mostly club volleyball and some high school ball since. Her oldest daughter, Kylie, plays on the Griz women’s basketball team.

"Being able to extend what we started in high school onto college was such a dream," Ann said of playing with Colleen. "She is one of the most genuine and caring people I know. And what a hard-working athlete."

THE GRIZ were young when Jaworski and Frohlich showed up on campus. But their junior year, they finished second to Idaho State in the Big Sky regular season and conference tournament (in front of the raucous home fans in Missoula), and earned the program’s first NCAA berth.

The next year, they made even more history by winning the Big Sky for the first time, and the conference tourney for the first time, earning a return trip to the NCAAs.

Among her teammates on that Grizzly team were Kate (Faha) Horning, mom to Kelly Horning, who played volleyball at Coeur d’Alene High and then went to Montana; and twins Alex and Lars Horning, seniors and athletes at Post Falls High.

Jaworski said Kate "was one of the most inspirational teammates I ever played with. Her work ethic in games and practices raised the bar for our team and was a huge reason for our success at Montana."

Ann had somewhat of a kindred spirit of sorts at outside hitter in Angie (Bellinger) Meadows, from Ferris High in Spokane, who at 5-foot-9 also played taller than her stature.

"We were able to run a really fast tempo outside offense because Angie was so fast and could jump out of the gym," Jaworski recalled.

Leading it all was coach Dick Scott. He preached team building, and many of the team members remain in touch to this day.

"He was fiercely competitive and had a heart of gold," Jaworski said. "He recruited well-rounded athletes to Montana which I truly believe is part of the reason we were so successful. We all had strong work ethics, competitiveness and the will to win."

Playing in the era of sideout scoring, Jaworski finished with 4,650 assists, and also still holds the record for most assists in a match with 98.

“I think Ann had great instincts,” Frohlich said. “And she had trust in her teammates. And I think that combination made her fearless.

“When I think about Ann … whatever she did, she was always successful, and always did it with a professional, hard-working attitude, and I loved that about her.”

Jaworski coached one year as a grad assistant at Montana. She had another coaching offer after that, but after earning a bachelor’s in finance, and a master’s in accounting, she was ready to go into the business world.

Her and husband Doug have three kids — Julia, 22, a nursing student at Montana State University-Northern, Larry’s alma mater; Justin, 18, a student at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix; and Cole, 17,a junior at Coeur d’Alene High.

Jaworski keeps busy these days, doing accounting work.

Recently her co-workers were discussing the company’s three-year plan, and Jaworski’s thoughts drifted back to Scanlon’s three-year plan at Coeur d’Alene, and the resulting bag of marbles.

“So I started thinking about the parallels, and I didn’t realize at the time the things I learned through sports are really alive in my life today,” she said. “Back then you’re just playing sports, but in reality, you’re building character and learning things that will benefit you forever.”

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Photo courtesy Ann Jaworski Ann Jaworski, standing at right, Sherri Thormahlen, standing at left, and Colleen (Jantz) Frohlich teamed to bring home Coeur d'Alene's first state volleyball title in 1987. Jaworski is holding the state championship trophy; Thormahlen is holding the Vikings's third-place trophy from the 1988 state basketball tournament. Sherri and her sister, Tara, transferred to Coeur d'Alene from St. Maries in 1987. "Sherri was the most naturally gifted athlete I have ever seen," Jaworski said. Sherri Thormahlen went on to play volleyball and basketball at Long Beach State.

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Photo courtesy Montana media relations Ann (Schwenke) Jaworski ran a fast-paced offense at Montana from 1988-91, resulting in a Big Sky Conference title, a Big Sky tourney title and two NCAA tournament berths.

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Photo courtesy of Ann Jaworski Coeur d'Alene High won its first — and only — state volleyball title in 1987.