Temple had a chance to inch closer to its first playoff berth in a handful of years Tuesday night, but Harker Heights had its own postseason aspirations in mind.

Behind sharp hitting from Mileyana Hopkins and Lillian Shrepee’s imposing presence at the net, the visiting Lady Knights did enough to spoil the Tem-Cats’ penultimate home date by serving the hosts a 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 sweep that vaulted them a half-match ahead of Temple in the District 12-6A standings.

Hopkins hammered down a match-high 14 kills while Shrepee had four blocks to help Heights fend off the Tem-Cats in a match that never strayed far in either team’s favor the entire time.

After neither squad led by more than four the whole way, the Lady Knights (18-18, 6-4) opened up a 23-15 gap as they looked to close out the sweep before Temple (17-25, 5-4) fought back behind a late burst from Kendall Tate.