Sparta over Pinckneyville
25-11, 19-25, 25-20
Sparta took the first and third set to top Pinckneyville 25-11, 19-25, 25-20 Tuesday night in SIRR Mississippi Division volleyball action.
After cruising in set one by the lopsided score of 25-11, Pinckneyville came out in set two and took advantage of several unforced errors by Sparta and rode the momentum change to the second set win. 
The Lady Bulldogs rebounded in set three to lead most of the way with the Lady Panthers not going away easy. Sparta opened to a 19-12 lead and eased to 23-16 before a couple of trade off points put the score at 24-20 before a miss fire on a Panther serve ended the match at 25-20.
“It’s always tough playing when the girls are not in school and it showed in how sluggish we were at times,” said Sparta coach Roger Gerlach. “Certainly I’m happy with the win and sometimes you just need to win and go on.  We will see them again on senior night next Tuesday so we can’t dwell on it too long.  We need to play hard each and every night and each and every point—and put this one behind us.”
Erica Gallois led both teams at the net with 22 kills while Rachel Peck added 11.  Emma Koester added 26 assists.
Sparta suffered one of its worst serving nights going 61 of 69 while enduring a rough hitting night having 17 hitting errors to hit at a .193 percent.
“You could see how the match changed with our passing,” added Gerlach.  “When we were hitting in set one they couldn’t generate much offense, but when we were having trouble we could no longer generate the good offensive surge and the tide changed.”
Sparta improved their overall record to 19-7 and 6-1 in conference play.  The Bulldogs and Nashville stand atop the division as both teams have just one league loss. That will all change Thursday when the Hornettes visit Fulton Gym.