If you walked by Diddle Arena in the last two days you might have noticed some commotion coming from inside.

That’s because Western (10-1) hosted the Lady Topper Invitational.

The tournament was the first time the Lady Toppers have played at home this season.

Western won the invitational that included teams such as Valparaiso, Tennessee Tech and Miami of Ohio.

“Being at home is awesome,” senior middle hitter Megan Argabright said. “I love all the fans and all of the support. It’s just one of those comfort things. You get to see your family and your fans.”

After suffering its first loss of the season Friday night to Miami (Ohio) 1-3, Western rebounded early Saturday with a 3-1 win against Valparaiso in the early match, followed by a 3-0 win against Tennessee Tech.

It was a team effort against Tennessee Tech with five players having five or more kills during the night.

Western was led by senior setter Julia Noe, who had a .875 attack average, 26 assists and nine digs.

The Lady Toppers entered Saturday’s match against Valparaiso with the intentions of showing that they could bounce back after a tough loss.

For all Western fans that were in attendance, it was hard to see the amount of emotion that the team played with against Valparaiso.

“It was one of those competitive moments,” Argabright said. “We were just coming off of a loss, and we had to get it done.”

The Lady Toppers put together a total of 51 kills, nine blocks and 57 digs.

“We had to match up to their caliber,” senior libero Kelly Hofmeyer said. “We had to pick it up defensively and we just tried to out-do everything that they were doing and hope things went our way.”

The loss against Miami (Ohio) didn’t hurt Western, but a win could have improved its No. 34 ranking, head coach Travis Hudson said.

“They’re thirty-first in the country for a reason,” Hudson said. “It could have helped us long term, but it certainly isn’t one that is going to hurt us.”

The Lady Toppers learned some things in the tournament as well.

The statistics show that not just a few players are dominating the court, that the team can rally around themselves and pick up each other if need be, Argabright said.

The road to the Sun Belt Conference Championship won’t get much easier from here on out.

Western will travel north for a 6:30 p.m. match on Friday against Michigan at Ann Arbor in the Michigan/Pepsi Invitational.

After the tournament in Ann Arbor the Lady Toppers start Sun Belt conference play, where the wins and losses have a direct affect on their future.

Check Tuesday’s Herald for more coverage of the invitational.