The regular season got underway this past week for the Temple College Leopards Volleyball team and roster for the TC Men's Basketball team was released on the TC Leopards website, as the basketball programs begin their ramp ups for the preseason.
Here is a look back at this past week and a preview of the upcoming week in Temple College Athletics:
Volleyball gains split at the Western Texas College Volleyball Classic
The Temple College Volleyball team began their 2025 regular season on Friday as they took on four teams at the two-day Western Texas College Volleyball Classic in Snyder.
The Leopards led off the tournament against Otero College.
TC played well against the Rattlers as Temple won 3-1, with match scores of 25-19, 25-20, 24-26, and 25-13.
In the opener, the Leopards overcame a three-point disadvantage twice with patient play and kills by Yasmine Traore, Riley Mendiola, and Lana Wright. Wright and Hanna Ward collected aces during the 14-5 set-closing run in the first game to give the Leopards a 1-0 match lead.
Traore and Kharma Brown had key kills in the second game, in addition to excellent sets and back-to-back aces by Abbie Soileau to lift the Leopards past another three-point margin and busted the game open with a 10-5 run to close out the second set.
The Rattlers opened up a 17-10 lead in game three when Temple answered with seven unanswered points, thanks to solid service by Soileau and a cannonading kill shot by Traore to tie the game at 17-17. Temple fought off two game points before Otero scored the last two points to clip TC's lead in the match to one game.
The Leopards were leading 5-4 when Temple closed the game on a 20-9 stretch, powered by kill shots from Traore and Brown, and aces from Ward, Sarah Rodriguez, and Karlee Williamson.
In the late game, the Leopards took on tournament host Western Texas College.
The Westerners put together streaks in all three games to pull off a sweep of the Leopards. Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-17, and 25-19.
The team wrapped up their stay at the Western Texas College Volleyball Classic on Saturday morning, as they faced Dallas College Cedar Valley and Vernon College in Snyder.
In the opening match, the Leopards were able to pull away from the Suns and sweep them in three games.
Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-21, and 25-22.
Williamson, Brown, and Karlie McCauley picked up early kills, and Williamson and XanZhae Grigsby picked up aces as the Leopards led at the midpoint of game one, 15-10.
Three big digs by Ward late in the first game kept the Leopards' momentum in full effect, Soileau's two assists late set up Wright for a pair of kills. Wright also collected a late ace to help TC clinch game one by six points.
Traore had three early kills and Soileau collected an ace early in the second game. Grace Schneider and Riley Mendiola connected on kill shots as the Leopards had five-point lead, 17-12.
The Suns gained some momentum late, but kills by Mendiola, Wright, and Traore helped keep the winning margin at four points.
In game three, six Traore kills in Temple's first 14 points gave the Leopards a six-point lead, 14-9.
Again, the Suns broke serve in the middle of the game and went on a 13-9 stretch to pull within a point. The Leopards collected the final. two points with win the game by three and earn the sweep.
The final match of the tournament for TC was Vernon College in a non-conference tilt.
The Chaparrals were tenacious defensively and took advantage of many of the opportunities afforded by the Leopards as they swept TC.
Scores of the match were 25-11, 25-11, and 25-12.
Vernon earned the first four points of the match and methodically opened a 14-6 advantage.
The Leopards could not gain a foothold in the game, as Vernon's 11-5 clip over the final 16 points earned the Chaparrals a 14-point win.
Things started well for the Leopards in the second game, as Wright had two successful attacks and Mendiola earned a kill to give Temple a 5-4 lead.
Vernon turned up the heat again and outscored Temple 21-6 over the next 27 points to earn a second 14-point win and go up 2-0 in the match.
Schneider and Traore had a pair of kills each in the third game. However, Vernon pulled away from the Leopards early. Temple fought off a match point on a Schneider kill, but Vernon closed the match out with a kill.
"Both days were learning experiences for us," TC Volleyball head coach Rachel Melancon said. "We tried different lineup combinations, some worked and some we tinkered with. Next week is an extremely busy week, and we do not have much of a turnaround."
Where the Leopards sit
The Leopards are 2-2 to start the 2025 campaign, having won seven games and lost six
The week ahead for the Leopards
The Leopards start their week Monday evening as they host Dallas College North Lake on Kirby Johnson Court at 6 pm.
TC will travel to Beeville on Tuesday to take on Coastal Bend College at 3 pm.
The Leopards will head to Irving on Thursday for the back half of the home-and-home with North Lake at 5 pm.
Temple will play in Dallas at the Dallas College Richland Tournament against Richland (Friday, 10 am), Coffeyville Community College (Friday, 11:30 am), Independence Community College (Saturday, 8 am), and DC Eastfield (Saturday, 11 am).
Men's basketball team releases roster on TC Leopards website
The Temple College Leopards men's basketball team released their 2025-2026 roster this week on TCLeopards.com.
The Leopards have eight returning sophomores, with Josh Telfort, Jason Ward, Roy Gardner, Jaymes Brown-Peterson, Roy Gardner, Jonty Kells, Joel Brown, and Ovie Agbigbe having seen regular playing time.
While the 2024-2025 was nicknamed "Team UN," the 2025-2026 team has some international flair to it as well. Including the United States, there are seven different countries represented: Australia (Harry Bates), Canada (Telfort), England (Joseph Lloyd), Lithuania (Joris Kacinskas), New Zealand (Kells, Brown), and Sweden (Esbjorn Ejimofor).