THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Getting the max out of volleyball tournaments

For the second year, as in most sports, volleyball is using MaxPreps rankings to seed its state tournaments.

However, this year, MaxPreps has told coaches not to enter tournament results — just results of regular matches.

Its rationale: With the inconsistent variety in scoring at tournaments, a level playing field is not possible.

Makes sense, to a degree.

At some tournaments, matches are played to 21 — or, the set starts off with a 4-4 tie, and the teams play to 25.

And in pool play, many times teams play two sets, regardless of who wins. If each team wins a set, who is declared the winner? Total overall points? Or is it a tie?

And sometimes, placing matches consist of one set, to 25.

“It seemed like it was comparing apples to oranges,” Lake City coach Michelle Kleinberg said of including tournament results in MaxPreps rankings.

EVEN BEFORE MaxPreps took over, teams counted tournaments differently.

Some teams, especially in eastern Idaho, counted everything. Some teams, particularly in the Boise area, counted just their best-of-5 matches. So then when state rolled around, you’d see a team with a 33-8 record take on a squad with a record listed at 12-0 in the semifinals and you’d think, something isn’t quite right here.

For the most part, local coaches are OK with the change — or they just figure they'll roll with the punches, something they’ve had to do quite a bit of the past few years, with COVID-19 affecting seasons and state tournaments.

Coeur d’Alene coach Carly Curtis said she uses tournaments “as a chance to get other kids some playing time, and not worry as much about wins and losses, and worry more about the end product.”

FOR EXAMPLE, Coeur d’Alene and Lake City will likely play some 5A teams from the Boise area in a tournament in Meridian later this month. In theory, those head-to-head matches could be a form of seeding criteria if those teams make it to state — just like it is in wrestling.

But a team like Timberlake, which often makes it to state in 3A, would rarely play a 3A school from another part of the state.

“What would somehow be nice,” longtime Timberlake coach Michelle Garwood said, “is if they could do it (give rankings points in MaxPreps) on how you ended in the tournament, instead of how you did in each match.”

Post Falls finished fourth at state in 5A last year.

“I suppose for strength of schedule, it might be detrimental” to not include tournament results, Post Falls coach Willow Hanna said. “You could be missing some matches that could increase your ranking. But, it could also bring some balance to the rankings.”

Then there’s 4A Lakeland, which plays many matches against 5A teams in North Idaho, so its overall record may suffer a bit.

Two years ago, the Hawks won the state 4A title — and they credited matches for Coeur d’Alene, Lake City, Post Falls and Lewiston for toughening them up, even as they took a pedestrian 10-6 record to state.

And last year, Lakeland finished second in the seven-team IEL — ahead of 5A schools Lake City, Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston — and the Hawks (19-14 overall) were poised to return to state before being upset at regionals by Moscow, which finished third in the IEL.

Lakeland coach Kelsie Badger said playing in the combined 5A/4A IEL, where all the matches count, has “helped strengthen our program. Our record, that doesn’t bother me, and MaxPreps ranking, it could hurt us. But if we’re as good as we think we are, it really shouldn’t matter.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.