After two months of inconsistent performances, the Panther volleyball team is now unsuccessfully trying anything and everything to win.

Panther fans may have thought they were seeing a completely different team on the floor during Homecoming weekend.

The Panthers were defeated Friday against Austin Peay 3-1 and lost to Tennessee Tech 3-2 Saturday.

Head coach Brenda Winkeler made several lineup adjustments in the pair of games this weekend.

Arguably, the most shocking switch was benching sophomore setter and two-year starter Lindsey Perkins in favor of freshman Nikki Fowler.

Fowler started the first game of Tuesday’s match against Southeast Missouri State and saw more action this weekend after watching all of the last 17 matches from the bench.

“We have been looking for consistency out of certain positions,” Winkeler said.

Winkeler also moved freshman Laura Schuette to libero in Game 4 Saturday after Sarah Niedospial suffered an injury after she hit her head hard on the Lantz Arena floor.

“After she hit her head, we were all concerned that she wasn’t going to medically finish the match but Laura did a good job passing the ball,” Winkeler said.

Niedospial continued to compete but was switched to outside hitter, a position she played during her senior year of high school.

The winless Homecoming weekend continued a streak of losing 11 of its last 12 matches dating back to Sept. 14.

In Saturday’s match against the Golden Eagles (5-12, 2-5), sophomore outside hitter Erica Gerth led the team with 22 kills and by earning 35 digs, she was one away from Sarah Niedospial’s school single-game dig record.

“She plays with a lot of maturity for a sophomore and is a team leader,” Winkeler said.

Gerth rebounded from disappointing games against Austin Peay (6-12, 2-4) that included a minus .065 attack percentage and only six kills, which tied for her third-lowest performance all season.

The Panthers achieved a positive and a negative first in Saturday’s match.

The Panthers got to the century mark in digs with 100, but also earned a negative hitting percentage (-.038) in game three against the Golden Eagles.

“We did a very good job to out-dig a very good volleyball team tonight,” Winkeler said.

Winkeler was encouraged by the Panthers intensity and ability to play inspired volleyball after losing a heartbreaking match the night before against the Lady Governors.

“After last night, we seemed ready to play and we were excited to compete,” Gerth said “We just didn’t stay focused in another five setter.”

This makes the Panthers 3-2 in five-game matches, but they had repeated chances to defeat Tennessee Tech.

“I must have gone back to serve at match point maybe six or seven times,” Gerth said.

The loss drops the Panthers (6-14, 1-6) to eighth in the nine-team Ohio Valley Conference and leaves Winkeler searching for the lineup that will produce a win.