Talented freshman poised to claim Bingham's No. 1 singles slot

SOUTH JORDAN — With the way things started out, tennis found Bingham freshman Morgan Musser as much as she found it.

Musser grew up in Atlanta, where it was not uncommon to see a tennis court or two in every neighborhood, and everybody played — including her mom and dad. Musser tagged along to the local tennis court by the time she reached kindergarten.

It didn't take too long before she joined in.

"At first I was just playing around," Musser said. "Everybody said I had a natural talent and I just took it from there."

The Miners look to benefit from that natural talent right away. Musser is already making a strong push to claim Bingham's No. 1 singles slot as a freshman.

It helps that the position is there for the taking, after all three singles players graduated last year. But Musser is not just benefiting from good timing. Longtime coach Dave Davis says that she is where she is because her talent and experience is beyond her age.

"She's grown up playing," Davis said. "A lot of these other girls don't start playing until they're a bit older, so she has more experience than the older girls."

Musser has had to battle through recent wrist and knee injuries to have a chance at the top spot. Her wrist became so swollen a few months ago that she thought she had suffered a fracture and she has had to wear a bulky brace to protect her knee ever since tearing ligaments a few months ago.

Those injuries have made it tough to regain her serve and overhead shot since both involve the wrists and knees. But Musser hasn't let that be an obstacle.

She has also not let her youth be an obstacle. Musser has worked to make sure that going for first singles is about making her team better, rather than personal glory.

"When I came in, I felt like I had to prove myself to everyone, because I was the youngest one," Musser said. "I just felt like I needed to make people trust me."

Trust has not been an issue since many of Musser's teammates are also unproven. Only Sammie Bagley and Amanda Rogers have any previous varsity experience. Bagley will play singles instead of doubles this fall, while Rogers will stay put in doubles.

When paired, they only lost one match — in the state tournament to Alta — all season. Now Rogers must adjust to a new partner. Time will tell if the new pairing works out as well as the original one.

"It's one thing to play doubles and to be good enough to play," Rogers said. "But, I mean, it's 70 percent chemistry — how you work together on a court and how you move and all those things. Two singles players can't necessarily play doubles."

Here's a quick look at the rest of Region 3: