The Temple College Leopards volleyball celebrated Sophomore Night, as the Leopards hosted Hill College Wednesday at Kirby Johnson Court.

Sophomores Lana Wright, Riley Mendiola, and Grace Schneider were recognized for their outstanding contributions to Temple College and the Leopards' volleyball program.

As for the contest, the match was much closer than their Sep. 20 conference tilt that resulted in a Hill sweep.

The Leopards fought through early service situations, the absence of two setters due to injury, and a significant Rebel start in game two to give Hill a battle. TC's late rally was not enough, as Hill took the match, 3-1.

Scores of the contest were 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, and 25-22.

Temple's struggles with serve/receive in game one played a major factor in the decision, as the Leopards committed six service errors all coming in TC leads that tied the game or in ties that gave the Rebels the lead.

Within the body of the game, the Leopards received assists from Kenedee Pennington and kills from Kharma Brown, Lana Wright, Yasmine Traore, Riley Mendiola, and Grace Schneider that kept the Leopards powered throughout the set.

However, the timeliness of kills from Zamariya Lyons, Kyara Denson, and Addison Ridge to keep the pressure on the Leopards, and eventually got two final kills from Ridge to end the first game with the Rebels winning by three points.

Hill's 7-1 lead to start game two ended up being a hole that Temple could not climb out of, despite excellent plays by Schneider, Traore, and Wright.

Lyons had four kills, Ridge added two, and Oliwia Jaroszewicz and Nikola Jaroszewicz each added kills to pace the Rebels to the game two win.

Temple never trailed in game three getting excellent sliding digs from Hanna Ward, Hannah Block, and Sarah Rodriguez, more solid sets from Pennington, and kills by Mendiola, Wright, and Traore. The Leopards led by as many as six points, which ended up as the margin of victory in the set.

Though Temple never led in game four, they made life difficult on the Rebels as they stayed withing two-to-four points from Hill throughout the set. Ridge, Nikola Jaroszewicz, Oliwia Jaroszewicz, Marija Visnjic, Britney Hoover, and Melanie Gasca were instrumental in aiding Hill in the separation and helped earn Hill the win to clinch the match.

The Leopards will travel to Terrell on Saturday as they will take on the Southwestern Christian College Rams.