In a match between the two front runners of the SIRR Mississippi Division Tuesday night, Sparta came out of the shoot very quickly and took control of set one with a commanding 25-13 win. 

In set two, Nashville rebounded for a 25-19 win to set up the deciding third set.  In the back and forth battle in the third set, Sparta fell behind late 23-18 before the Bulldogs surged back to a tie at 23.  An attack error and faulty service return set up the Hornettes for the kill and win 25-23.

“I’m very proud of the effort but we didn’t get the knock out punch when we had them on the ropes early and they responded for the big win,” said Sparta coach Roger Gerlach.  “This is a tough loss, we played well enough to deserve a better outcome.  But give them credit they did what they needed to pull it out.”

Sparta was led by Erica Gallois and Rachel Peck, each with 13 kills, while Emma Koester had 17 assists.  Jaime Woodworth had a super night passing with a 2.50 grade.

Sparta drops to 11-7 overall while moving to 2-1 in conference play.