By JEFF ADAMS
Sports Correspondent

The Littlefork-Big Falls Vikings used dominant serving, good communication and a clear height advantage to sweep the Cherry Tigers 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 Tuesday night in the opening game of their season at the Littlefork gym.
Haylee Gates had six kills in the final game to lead the Vikings (1-0) back from an early deficit. Behind 5-1, the Vikings came back on the strength of three straight service aces by Kristi Bloom. Gates’ two straight kills midway through the third game put the Vikings up 10-9, and they would never trail after that. Gates capped the victory with a service ace for Match Point.
“I was very happy with our play in the third game,” Vikings coach Kim Wimmer said. “In the second game, we ran into some difficulty. We made some errors we don’t typically make. I was proud of the way we came back in the third.”
The Vikings opened the match strong, running off five straight points before Cherry could respond. Cherry had made it close at 11-10 when Whitney Junker served seven straight points, including one ace, to put the Vikings ahead to stay in the game. Baylea Wendt served two straight aces to close out the first game.
“We teach in practice to have tough serves; tough, but in,” Wimmer said. “If we can do that (maintain good service) it’s obviously a much more comfortable situation.”
Game two was the closest of the three games with Cherry coming back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 7-4 lead on a service ace by Taylor Sauter. Wimmer then called timeout, and the Vikings responded by climbing back to a 11-10 lead. The game see-sawed back and forth until Cherry’s Mallory Sauter served three straight points to make the score 21-19 Vikings.
After two Viking points came on short dinks at the net, Tiger coach Pam Pioske called a timeout. But the strategy backfired when the Tigers committed two straight errors to give game two to the Vikings.
Gates’ nine kills led the team. Hannah Larson and Junker added three kills each. Gates also had three blocks to lead the team. Larson and Junker added two each.
The Vikings had a clear height advantage.
“We have a number of kids that can hit the ball hard,” Wimmer said. “That’s something we’ve been proud of for a number of years. We want our kids to be aggressive at the net.”
Bloom’s three straight service aces in the third game led the Vikings in that category, while Junker and Wendt added two each.
Next up for Littlefork-Big Falls is area rival International Falls, a match Wimmer was already thinking about Tuesday evening.
“It was a good first game,” Wimmer said. “We got the win, and I’m proud of that. And we’ll come into practice tomorrow, try and fix some of those errors, and get ready for the Falls.
“I hope we have a reputation for having a good volleyball team. But every year’s a new year. It’s a clean slate, so we want to work hard and continue to be successful.”
The Vikings and the International Falls Broncos face off tonight at Falls High School. Game time is 7 p.m.