Tawa’s Club Dots: USA wins Pan Am Cup; who’s on Mount Rushmore of club coaches?

This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in club volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots each week through Junior Nationals this summer.

• The USA Volleyball Girls U19 team determined that the sky is no longer the limit by winning the Pan Am Cup on Sunday in Puerto Rico. Team USA swept Mexico in the finals, capping a tournament in which the Americans did not lose a set.

• For OH Julia Blyashov and setter Izzy Starck, this is their second Pan Am Cup Gold Medals in less than a year. Blyashov hails from San Diego and plays club volleyball for WAVE. Starck, one of seven underclassmen on the 12-player team, is from Colorado Springs and plays for Colorado Juniors.

• The win capped a remarkable year for Blyashov, a 6-3 senior OH. In the fall, Blyashov captained Cathedral Catholic to an undefeated season, the California Open Division state title and the unanimous mythical national title. Last month she was named MVP as WAVE 18-Juliana captured the USAV 18 Open national championship. And now this, a run at the Pan Am Cup where she was a deciding factor in most of the matches. Blyashov had four kills, two blocks and an ace in the championship match.

• What will Blyashov do next? She is off to Stanford to join a loaded Cardinal roster. Blyashov and fellow incoming freshman OH Jordyn Harvey will battle for playing time on the pins with returning starters Kendal Kipp, Caitie Baird and Elia Rubin. Kipp is a consensus first-team All-American. Baird was a fourth-team selection by VolleyballMag.com.

• Blaire Bayless, a 6-2 senior OH from Texas, was named Pan Am Cup MVP. She had seven kills, two aces and a block in the championship match.

• RS Olivia Babcock, a 6-4 senior from California, led all hitters with eight kills. Bayless and Babcock are part of an incoming class at Pittsburgh that head coach Dan Fisher has lauded as the best of his career. It also includes 6-3 OH Torrey Stafford from California and Hawaiian setter Haiti Tautua’a.

• MB Lizzy Andrew, a 6-5 junior MB from Washington; and Ava Falduto, a junior libero from Illinois; were named Best Blocker and Best Receiver, respectively, at Pan Am Cup. Falduto is headed to Penn State, as part of a class that also includes Starck….