Tawa’s back! The first high school volleyball Dots of the season

This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in high school volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday until the last high school state championship in November:

• Our No. 1 Dot has to do with No. 1, namely which is the No. 1 team in the nation now and into the future? At present, it appears that two entities are ranking teams on a national level, MaxPreps and USA Today.

MaxPreps has tabbed Marian of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan as its pre-season No. 1 choice. The Mustangs won the Michigan Division 1 title last fall with a 53-1 record and is off to a 12-0 start to 2022. Coached by Mayssa Cook, Marian boasts senior setter Ava Sarafa, a Kentucky commit averaging over nine assists per set; as well as hitters Ella Schomer (Wofford), senior Molly Banta and rising star Izzy Busignani, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter.

USA Today went with Cathedral Catholic of San Diego. The second best team in California last year (behind undefeated national champion Marymount), the Dons started the fall with a sweep of state-ranked La Costa Canyon and are in Hawaii for a tournament over the holiday weekend. Coach Julianna Conn’s squad graduated its standout libero and star setter, but returns its entire hitting corps, led by OH Julia Blyashov and RS Noemie Glover, two of the hardest hitters in the game. Middles Ryleigh Patterson, Jenna Hannes and Mia Compass are more than solid at the net. Central Catholic reloads at the setter position, with junior Amanda Saeger, a DePaul commit; and at libero, as talented Maya Evens, the coach’s kid, takes over. The team has nine seniors and is motivated to fulfill its massive potential.

• I’m not ranking teams nationally this year, but if I were, I might have been tempted to go with defending Indiana 4A champion McCutcheon in the top spot. The Mavericks bring back National POY favorite Chloe Chicoine (Purdue), fellow OH Isabella Humphrey, a junior; and junior Allie Shondell, a recent Purdue commit herself. The Mavericks have started 8-1 on the year. They lost to one-loss Yorktown, which lost to one-loss Brebeuf Jesuit, which lost to … McCutcheon.

Wayzata of Minnesota and San Antonio’s Cornerstone Christian are two other intriguing teams. Wayzata was undefeated last year in winning state and has the Swenson sisters, setter Stella Swenson and hitter Olivia Swenson, both juniors;…