(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) North Summit's Brecklyn Murdock (11) hits the ball over Bingham's Talia Myers (5) as North Summit hosts Bingham, high school girls' volleyball in Coalville, Thursday August 17, 2017.
Coalville • A Thursday overnight trip on I-80 somewhere between the Wasatch mountains and Wyoming was planned as a team-building exercise for the Bingham Miners.
But first, a little volleyball.
The Miners, considered one of the favorites in the new Class 6A, stopped to play at North Summit High School in the afternoon.
And it was a fairly quick layover before heading off to stay the night in Oakley, as Bingham thrashed the host Braves 25-5, 25-6, 25-8.
North Summit, which won the Class 2A state crown a year ago, was playing without standout Hunter Vernon, who amassed nearly 400 kills in 2016. Vernon, who has had knee problems throughout her prep volleyball and basketball careers, is expected to be back in action in early September.
Even with her, it’s hard to imagine that North Summit would have been able to take Bingham to the wire in the season-opener for both squads.
BINGHAM 3, NORTH SUMMIT 0 <br>• Seleisa Elisaia leads the Miners with 12 kills in the season opener for both teams. <br>• North Summit plays without its leading hitter, Hunter Vernon, who is battling a knee injury. <br>• Bingham scores at least eight consecutive points four different times in the match.
“I think we have a lot of talent this year. I feel like all three teams [in the program], we haven’t seen this kind of talent in awhile,” said Bingham senior Seleisa Elisaia, who alternates between setter and opposite-hitter positions. “I’m real excited. I feel like we have a really good chance this year. We had about three starting seniors last year. But they’re gone, so it’s just us taking over.”
The left-handed Elisaia, who shared the hitting duties with Brynlie Huntsman, showed some pop in her hitting, finishing with a dozen kills and a pair of blocks.
The Bingham middles, Olivia Boudreaux and Talia Myers, combined for eight kills and three blocks, while Miners outsides Journey Tupea and Annissa Kehl added nine putaways collectively.
The visitors scored consecutive runs of eight points or more four different times in the match, with the longest being a 14-0 run in the first set.
“There were moments where we did some good stuff. We had three sophomores starting who didn’t even play the back row last year,” said North Summit coach Samantha Stephens, whose team was led by Kennady McQueen’s four kills. “It’s a tough opener, and I was hoping we’d have Hunter, but they’re a solid team.”
“Sometimes when you don’t feel like you have the competition you need to keep you going, you can either dip down a little bit or even be unsportsmanlike,” Bingham coach Melissa Glasker said. “But we’re huge on sportsmanship and being competitive.”
Glasker intended on force the team later in the evening to spend time together. The Bingham staff intended to collect cell phones from the players while heading to Oakley.
“I’m not a big fan of the phones,” Glasker said. “They’re on Twitter and Instagram and all that crap. I’ve also read that kids aren’t getting enough of nature, so our goal is to spend some time together, detox away from their phones, see if they can really enjoy each other’s company without their phones.”
“We have nobody but each other,” Elisaia said. “But it’s going to be fun. I think we’re going to have a good bonding time.”