The Lady Toppers’ motto for the 2009 season is “A Winning Tradition.” In recent years, the team has saved some of its most important wins for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Since 2000, Western has advanced to six out of eight Sun Belt Tournament Championship matches. They won three of those tournaments, and after Thursday’s four-set victory over Denver, they are one win away from advancing to another championship match.

“We have sure made some nice runs in the tournament,” Head Coach Travis Hudson said. “We do a good job of building to get to the championship.”

Senior outside hitter Brittany Bowen said the team always comes in with the right mindset at tournament time.

“We are usually one of the top teams in the conference, and we go out every year trying to prove we are the best,” Bowen said.

In his tenure at Western, Hudson said he has learned how to coach differently in the tournament.

“I have to make sure to keep the kids relaxed,” Hudson said. “The second they get frustrated is when things could go downhill.”

The Lady Toppers (25-8, 13-4 Sun Belt) won their first-round matchup against Denver 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-18) on Thursday to advance to the second round of the tournament.

“Everything was clicking after the first set,” junior outside hitter Emily Teegarden said. “We just tried to have fun, which is the way it should be.”

To advance and win the conference championship, the Lady Toppers may have to beat Middle Tennessee State and Florida International.

Florida International won its first-round match against North Texas on Thursday, and Middle Tennessee State played Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. The winner of the Middle Tennessee-UALR matchup will be Western’s second-round opponent.

All four of Western’s conference losses were against Middle Tennessee and Florida International, but the players said they aren’t worried about possible rematches.

“We have learned a lot from our matches with them,” Bowen said. “We know we can take them if we come in with a confident mindset.”

Coach Hudson has said multiple times that his team has closed the gap between its talent and that of Florida International and Middle Tennessee.

“We played each of them well the last time we played them,” Hudson said. “It is all about improving from the mistakes you made in the previous matches.”

Hudson said he doesn’t plan on making any adjustments to the team’s strategy for the rest of the season, and now it’s time to “lay it all on the line.”

“At this point of the year, you are what you are, and you can’t change anything,” he said.