By ROGER JEROME, Sports Correspondent

LITTLEFORK — The Deer River Warriors used a dominant first game and a comeback in the second game Tuesday to carry them to a 3-0 sweep of the Littlefork-Big Falls Vikings (25-10, 25-23, 25-18).
“Deer River has a strong team and they had great court coverage and strong play at the net,” said Vikings coach Kim Wimmer. “I was pretty proud of the way we came back in Game 2.”
The Warriors made quick work of Game 1, scoring five consecutive points. The Vikings scored one back but the Warriors the went on a 9-0 run to take a 14-1 lead.
The Warriors continued their strong play before closing it out at 25-10.
“I told the team we needed to simplify things between games,” said Wimmer. “I wanted them to serve tough, get some touches on their quick stuff and communicate better, and I think we did that.”
A 6-0 run put the Vikings in a 17-12 lead in Game 2. Warrior coach Connie Boyum-Erzar called timeout twice, but the Vikings lead increased to 22-17.
The game turned around when Boyum-Erzar inserted libero Jessica Villeneuve as the server trailing 23-19. After giving up two points, Wimmer called timeout. But the Warriors closed out the game with a kill by Mia Krueger and an ace serve to finish out a 6-0 run and move into a 2-0 lead.
“Even though it was tough to lose that second game our kids were upbeat and ready to go for Game 3,” said Wimmer.
But the Warriors broke quickly into the lead in Game 3, led by strong kills by Leah Benham, and maintained a comfortable margin to complete the sweep.
“Deer River has a very good team and they showed that tonight,” said Wimmer. “We had very few kill shots because they dug out almost everything we hit.”
Whitney Junker and Haylee Gates had three kills apiece and Hannah Larson finished with two kills. Kelly Millerbernd had 13 digs and Larson had 11 digs, while Baylea Wendt had ten digs.
Deer River had 96 digs in the match, with Leigh Peterson leading the way with 23.
Three other players finished in double digits. The Warriors also had 44 kills and 13 ace serves.
“We have an important match with Mountain Iron-Buhl Thursday night for Parent’s Night,” said Wimmer.
“It’s a subsection game and will help determine where we end up in the seeding,”.
It will be the final home game of the season for the Vikings, who are now 13-9 on the season, while the Warriors increased their record to 19-5. Thursday’s game begins at 7 p.m.