Tawa’s Dots: Playing with purpose in Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana

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 week until the last high school state championship in November:

• Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma (large schools): Those are the states that have completed their fall, 2022 high school seasons.

South Carolina’s Independent Schools finish up today with the two largest classes, after Laurens Academy and Patrick Henry won 1A and 2A, respectively, last night. The win for Laurens Academy was the fourth straight this season over Cambridge Academy, whose only 1A losses came to Laurens.

By this time next week, state champions will also have been determined in Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine and Utah’s small schools.

It’s all happening!

• Focusing on what lies immediately ahead, Spartanburg Christian Academy goes after its seventh straight title in South Carolina’s Independent Association. SCA is in 3A this year.

Porter-Gaud seeks its second straight title in the next 4A classification. The Cyclones and Cardinal Newman are meeting in the final for the third straight season.

• Alabama’s state championships started today. Covenant Christian’s Ashlee Gann had the best stat line among early participants: 22 kills, 15 digs and five blocks in a four-set quarterfinal win in Class 1A.

The stuff that really interests us in the Yellowhammer State doesn’t start until tomorrow in Class 6A, when Mountain Brook¸ moving down from Class 7A, goes for its fourth straight state title; and Bayside Academy, moving up from Class 5A, seeks its national record 21st consecutive top finish. If both teams win in the morning, that clash could take place tomorrow afternoon in the semifinals. Bayside lost in four last Thursday to Spanish Fort in the South Regional final. That’s how the Admirals got on Mountain Brook’s side of the bracket.

• In Tennessee, five teams claimed state titles this past week.

Cleveland, powered by the Hurst Sisters, Addison and Lauren, won its first-ever large-class volleyball state title, in three over Collierville.

Creek Wood captured its first title as well, downing an East Hamilton team that defeated it the day before, in five, breaking a 12-12 tie with three straight points, capped by a stuff block from MVP Katie Bowers.

Summertown won in 1A, Battle Ground Academy won again in Division II –A and Briarcrest…