High school boys volleyball: No. 1 ranked Bingham finishes atop the 6A mountain

Bingham’s boys volleyball team held true to its No. 1 ranking with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18) victory over No. 3 Mountain Ridge in the 6A championship match on Saturday in Orem.

The Miners closed out the season as hot as any team, not losing after spring break and dropping only one set in the state tournament to its regional rival in the championship.

“When they took that third set, I wasn’t too worried because I knew we’d come back with fire,” said Bingham coach Ben Chamberlain.

“Mountain Ridge is an incredible team. Those boys fight and did an incredible job. Rivals in our region and a brotherhood off the court.”

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The two teams split their regular season matches, with both winning at home. That left bragging rights for the rivalry in the hand of a neutral court and in the biggest match of the season.

The Miners were better on both sides of the net throughout the match Saturday, but it was their serving that helped them make runs when they needed them.

The first set was close with back-and-forth score shifts before middle blocker Ethan Peterson helped Bingham pull away behind serving that left the Sentinels scrambling. That scrambling took away Mountain Ridge’s ability to set up its offense.

“If you have consistent serves and make your serves, you’re going to make them have to beat you playing volleyball instead of beating ourselves,” said the senior Peterson.

Serving was a showcase for the Peterson pair, as sophomore Derek orchestrated runs across the match as well. Bingham held control in the second set and looked ready to close things out before Mountain Ridge extended play with a third-set win.

The Sentinels built out a 17-11 lead after winning a 50-50 ball at the net but then had to be stalwarts in thwarting the Miners’ hope for a sweep as they rallied back to tie it at 23-23.

The Sentinels regrouped and scored the next two points, with the game winner coming off a much-needed block.

Mountain Ridge carried momentum into the fourth set with another back-and-forth battle that had the things tied up at 17-17, but Bingham proved too much behind Derek Peterson’s serve and JJ Faiivae and Ethan Peterson’s approach to end on an impressive run.

“I feel like our team was the most balanced all the way through,” said Ethan Peterson. “Every team has one or two really great hitters, but it felt like our team had someone who could get a kill everywhere on the court and that’s what really made us special. Everybody was able to get that kill when we needed it.”

The Miners were balanced across the board, but it was Faiivae who proved he’s the state’s next big star. The sophomore’s attack wreaked havoc on the Sentinels across sets as his swing was so powerful and fast it was tough to set up a block.

It’s somewhat surprising to find out Faiivae had to break through a mental block of being blocked and just let himself play this year.

“We just said you’re a sophomore and swing like that. You’ve got to swing away,” said Chamberlain.

It was a great finish for Chamberlain, who could be found after the game jumping around like a kid in a candy store, but who wouldn’t be that excited after winning a championship in their debut season?

Faiivae led all players with 16 kills, while Brody Siddoway and Jerico Jones tallied six apiece. Ethan Peterson finished with five kills and six block touches.

Clark Fowler had 13 kills for Mountain Ridge while Nesta Vaitai added 12 with three block touches.