The balanced offense the Lady Toppers have displayed in the past weeks faded a little bit this weekend.

And while Western’s (15-3, 4-0 SBC East)balance in production was dimmed, junior middle hitter Megan Argabright and senior middle hitter Jenna Gideon provided bright spots.

In Saturday night’s 3-1 (33-31, 31-29, 23-30, 30-23) win over Denver (8-9, 2-2 Sun Belt Confernce West), Gideon led the attack with 19 kills and a .424 hitting percentage. Argabright followed closely behind with 18 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Aquila Orr and junior setter Julia Noe had 11 kills each.

“We can’t turn into that team,” coach Travis Hudson said. “We have to be a team of balance and that can come at you from all angles, and so that is something we have to continue to work to get better at.”

In Friday night’s too-close-for-comfort match with North Texas (5-13, 1-3 SBC West), it was again Gideon and Argabright who led the way. Argabright led the team with a match-high 29 kills. Gideon finished with 17 in the Lady Toppers 3-2 (30-19, 30-25, 28-30, 27-30, 15-12) win.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” Gideon said. “Denver and North Texas are both tremendous teams this year. They’re just two great wins, and I think they helped our confidence.”

Western showed the most balance of the weekend against North Texas. Orr and Noe again finished with double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter Abbie Siljendahl had 11 kills.

But don’t forget about the defense.Before the matches this weekend, Hudson said a good amount of emphasis was put on defense.

For junior libero Kelly Hofmeyer, the focus paid off.

Hofmeyer was named SBC defensive player of the week on Monday. She had 32 digs against North Texas and 19 digs against Denver. She also eclipsed the 1,000 dig mark of her career this weekend, and moved into 10th all-time in school history with 1,035 digs.

To top it all off, Hofmeyer will head home to Cincinnati when the Lady Toppers play the Bearcats tonight at 6:30. The Lady Toppers are 3-10 all-time against the Bearcats.

“The success of our program is going to depend on how we defend,” Hudson said. “We didn’t do a great job defending (Saturday). Both teams had their way offensively much of the match.”

Denver had a match hitting percentage of .255 and had a higher hitting percentage than Western in three of four games.

Argabright said the team learned it can overcome adversity.

“This weekend was a little rocky,” Argabright said. “But it feels good to get wins, especially in conference, and being at home it is always a plus.”

The rocky part was evident when the Lady Toppers were down 8-3 early in the fifth and final game against North Texas and rallied back to win the match, 15-12.

They got behind 10-3 Saturday night in game two against Denver.

“I think our team did somethings this weekend that we can grow from in terms of facing adversity and finding a way,” Hudson said. “That hasn’t been our strong suit, but hopefully it’s a step in the right direction.”

Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.