For the past couple of weeks, head coach Travis Hudson’s biggest concern has been the Lady Toppers’ defense.

Western’s (13-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) match Saturday against Florida International (13-4, 3-1 Sun Belt) proved Hudson’s reason for concern.

After winning games two and three and keeping FIU’s hitting percentage below .300, the Lady Toppers allowed the Golden Panthers to hit above .500 for the last two games ending the match with a 2-3 Western loss.

“As I told (the players) in the locker room after the match, hopefully I have their attention a little bit better now,” Hudson said.

Hudson said he saw it coming, and the team has been talking about the defensive struggles for the past couple of weeks.

The Lady Toppers’ offense is too physically talented and dominating to be completely shut down, but if the team continues to struggle, it will be because of their defense, Hudson said.

Western had a team hitting percentage of .345 and the Lady Toppers had 10 or more kills.

The Lady Toppers’ struggles aren’t mechanical errors but mental mistakes and a lack of focus, Hudson said.

The biggest reason for the lack of focus has been the team’s success, Hudson said.

Western has been winning despite defensive struggles and has been able to ignore those problems in doing so.

The Lady Toppers don’t need to do anything physically different, but they do need a better attitude, and if the loss grabs the team’s attention on the defensive end, then it could be a blessing in disguise, Hudson said.

“Our weaknesses got thrown out there, and they were visible,” junior outside hitter Abbie Siljendahl said. “So maybe it was good thing that it happened earlier in conference (play) and not later, so that we can fix it.”

The team needs to have better determination that they will be better than its opponents as well as better blocking and blocking intensity, Siljendahl said.

Knowing that the Lady Toppers have the physical abilities to have success and still struggling mentally is frustrating, senior middle hitter Megan Argabright said.

“What goes between your ears is something you can control,” Argabright said. “And that’s what is so frustrating about it, because we have the most control over it.”

The fact that Western is having to deal with mental errors at this point in the season is disappointing as well, Argabright said.

The team spent time last spring on mental toughness and will look back on what they learned then to get over this hump, Siljendahl said.

There isn’t one thing that Argabright can put her finger on for why these mental mistakes are being made.

“We had definitely become a better mental team,” Argabright said. “I don’t know if it’s a lack of focus or what, but it needs to pick back up.”

Reach Ryan Carey at sports@chherald.com.