The Temple College Lady Leopards dominated Hill College 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 at TC Gym on Tuesday night to win their third consecutive Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference championship.

“We expected a big fight,” said Temple coach Mary Reese, whose team improved to 20-12 overall and 7-0 in conference. “They took us to five down at their place. But maybe just being at home - I don’t know. ”

But this didn’t always seem like a home match for the Lady Leopards, as the large crowd on hand included a large contingent of Lady Rebel supporters.

That helped get the match started with a lot of intensity, and perhaps a bit too much adrenaline. Both teams got off to a shaky start, with Hill taking a 5-2 lead and all seven points coming off balls either hit long or into the net.

And the Lady Rebels weren’t giving the Lady Leopards an inch, matching them point for point until Hill had a 13-8 lead.

“We did the same thing against Panola and North Central (Texas),” Reese said of the slow start. “I really don’t know why we’ve started slow. Our hitting just hasn’t been there. We haven’t been working on hitting because that’s not our biggest problem. We’ve been working hard on defense.”

But after winning some easy points to cut it the 13-11, the Lady Leopards sensed that their first lead was in reach after one of the best rallies of the night ended with a kill by Precious Sanders. Before it got to the point where Sanders could put it away, both teams had to save the rally after several blocks, several hard spikes and even pancake saves.

It was the key moment in a 7-2 run that saw the Lady Leopards take a two-point lead.

“I don’t know that I would call them totally deflated,” Reese said of Hill after the point.” They are a fighter team and have a really scrappy defense. But my girls just got stronger.”

That carried over into the second game as Temple pulled out to a huge 12-3 lead and was able to cruise to a 2-0 lead in the match.

But Hill at least looked like it was going to fight back in the third game, matching TC point for point until it was 12-11 with the Lady Leopards leading.

At that point the teams again got involved in a long rally that also featured good blocks and big spikes, along with one ball that was played off the basketball backboard.

It finally ended with Hill’s Meghan Fichtel sending a spike down the left side of the court. It looked initially like Hill had won the point when the line judge ruled in, but then the call quickly was changed to out. With the down official out of position to see the play, the officials conferred and decided the point would be replayed.

Hill’s Tatiana Booth then hit the ball into the net on the replay, giving TC a 13-11 lead before Hill took a timeout.

But that didn’t help Hill much. Fichtel hit the next ball out and Temple’s Heather Lisenbe and Sara Heger had a huge block on a shot by Hill’s Nikki West after that to give Temple a 15-11 lead.

“I think that block was the turning point,” Reese said. “When we came in at the timeout I told the girls that Hill gets nothing. ‘You make them fight. If they pick up a hit from you, you have to be upset and make sure it doesn’t happen again. If they block you, make sure it doesn’t happen again. If they make a big play, you can’t do anything about that but you just have to make sure you make your big play as well.’”

And the Lady Leopards did, working completely as a team. Setter Cheyenne Craigen spread her passes evenly, earning 31 assists, and no one on the team had more than nine kills. Lisenbe finished with 11 blocks and six kills despite feeling constant pressure from Hill.

“I expected them to fixate on Heather,” Reese said. “That’s what Panola did and it worked for them. Hill worked on Heather, but she really wasn’t the only killer.”

The result was just another big win for the Lady Leopards as they continue to reach new heights in the program. Temple is 27-1 in conference play in three years under Reese and last week earned the No. 16 ranking in the NJCAA Top 20 poll, TC’s first-ever ranking.

But for Reese, the win over Hill and the third straight conference title don’t matter. What matters is getting to and being a competitive force at the national tournament, where the Lady Leopards have yet to win a match in three appearances.

“I’m happy they had a good game,” she said. “And I am happy with the way they are playing. I’m never satisfied, though. That doesn’t change until we get to the national championship. Then I might take a breath.”

mhood@temple-telegram.com