An emotional Travis Hudson said the Lady Toppers’ match against Middle Tennessee State in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament didn’t present many surprises.

“It was what we thought it would be like — hard fought and competitive,” Hudson said.

No. 3-seed Western lost to No. 2-seed Middle Tennessee in four sets (25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24) on Friday night.

The Lady Toppers went into halftime of the match tied at one set apiece, but things began to unravel for Western after that. MTSU went on an 11-1 run in the third set to take a 19-6 lead and won that set 25-15.

“It’s all about ball control, and we broke down with our ball-handling,” Hudson said. “That game couldn’t have been over soon enough.”

Western led 21-17 in the fourth set but couldn’t capitalize, and the Blue Raiders won the set to advance to the championship match.

“It got tight in the end, and we just felt the pressure,” freshman outside hitter Jordyn Skinner said.

Western competed most of the match with two injured players. Skinner bruised her head in the second set, which Hudson said may have caused a possible concussion, and senior outside hitter Abbie Siljendahl rolled her ankle in the third set.

“The kids persevered the whole game and continued to battle,” Hudson said.

Skinner, who finished the game with a team-high 11 kills as well as 9 digs, said she tried to put the pain aside to help out the team.

“It’s not about me. It’s about the team, and you just got to keep pushing,” Skinner said.

The Lady Toppers’ inconsistency on both offense and defense may have been their biggest issue in the match.

“We tried to make something better of each set,” said sophomore middle hitter Tiffany Elmore, who finished with 10 kills and a team-high .315 hitting percentage. “Once one thing went wrong, everything did.”

The Lady Toppers now wait to hear if they will be awarded an at-large bid to make the NCAA Tournament. Western has reached the tournament in the past two seasons.

“We will see what happens,” Hudson said. “It depends on our RPI, but I would have to say the chances are slim.”

Middle Tennessee will play No. 1-seed Florida International in the Sun Belt championship match at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Diddle Arena. FIU beat New Orleans in straight sets earlier on Friday.