By then Kaitlin Muniz was busy hugging teammates as the Temple student section stormed the Tiger Gym floor.
The Tem-Cats' playoff hopes in District 12-5A essentially were on the line Tuesday night and they knew it.
Wearing a determined demeanor, Temple used a stingy defense to avenge its Sept. 11 loss to rival Belton with a 26-24, 25-20, 18-25, 25-22 emotional victory that ended the Lady Tigers' five-match winning streak in the rivalry.
"We've worked so hard since the first match (against Belton)," said middle blocker Thompson, who had five blocks and seven kills while dominating at the net. "Our whole team, you could just see it in everybody's face that we wanted it so bad."
Said Muniz, who had 13 kills and 15 digs: "If we don't win this our chance at the playoffs is gone. That's the one thing we want the most."
The fifth-place Tem-Cats (17-14 overall, 4-4 district) moved to within one match of Belton (11-21, 5-3) and Copperas Cove (25-8, 5-3), which was swept by No. 8-ranked College Station A&M Consolidated, for 12-5A's fourth and final playoff berth. They still need to beat Cove or second-place Bryan (15-13, 6-2) to have a chance, but Tuesday's win was a great start.
"I don't know if I could be more proud of a group," Temple coach Susie Hughlett said. "I could tell in the huddles they wanted it so bad."
The balanced Tem-Cats got 14 kills and 14 digs from Loryn Goodwin, libero Lauren Mann was outstanding with 28 digs, Emily Vasek had 33 assists, Molly Farrell added five kills and Kristen Gunn had 12 digs.
While Temple played with a sense of urgency, Belton did not.
"Temple wanted it more than we did," said Lady Tigers coach Justeen Patton, whose team hosts Consol at 5:30 p.m. Friday. "I could tell after Game 1 that we were going to lose that match because of the look on their faces, how bad Temple wanted it and the lack of us wanting it.
"It wasn't that we weren't prepared, because we knew Temple inside and out. It's just the heart that we showed against Cove and Bryan and Temple the first time wasn't there tonight."
The biggest key was the Tem-Cats' ability to neutralize Belton hitter Grace Weaver. The area's leader in kills per game who had 29 in the Lady Tigers' five-game victory over Temple, Weaver was held to 16 and never got into rhythm.
"We've been reading about her in the paper and we knew we had to stop her," Muniz said. "That was our only chance of winning was getting better touches on the block."
Said Thompson, who had a crucial block on Weaver late in Game 4: "We worked on defense in general so much more in practice - blocking, recovering the roll shot, looking for the roll shot because that's her specialty. She's a great volleyball player."
Thompson's block on Weaver gave Temple a 23-21 lead in Game 4. On the next play, Thompson scored past Stephanie Stryker (nine blocks) for a 24-21 lead.
Weaver answered with a kill before Muniz's blast landed just inside the right line, setting off the Tem-Cats' celebration.
Temple took control midway through Game 1, turning a 10-7 deficit into a 17-12 lead. Belton responded with five straight points and eventually tied it at 21. Goodwin's kill and Thompson's block for a point and kill made it 24-21, but the Tem-Cats struggled to close it out.
Two attack errors and a Weaver kill tied it at 24, but Thompson's tip found a hole and the Lady Tigers were whistled for a net violation to give Temple a 1-0 lead.
In Game 2, the Tem-Cats broke free from a 17-all tie, scoring eight of the final 11 points.
Belton led almost throughout Game 3 and cruised to victory to avoid the sweep.
Up 2-1, Temple looked to close out the match, something it failed to do in a costly loss against Bryan last Tuesday.
"We just didn't let our enthusiasm drop at all," Thompson said. "We all talked to each other and said, 'There would be no other losses. This was it.'"
And the Tem-Cats took care of business to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Said Hughlett: "It's a huge win and it's not over. We have to take care of Harker Heights and (Killeen) Ellison. We have to eliminate our mistakes and play tough and get ready for Bryan, A&M and Cove."
Temple hosts Ellison at 5:30 p.m. Friday in another must-win match.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
