Before their last non-conference tournament, the Panthers were 5-2.

That fifth win would be the last match victory the Panthers have seen this year.

Eastern is currently on a 13-game losing streak, the longest streak since joining Division I in 1982. The previous streak was 12 losses in 2002.

“Well, the last tournament was very tough, playing Northwestern, Pitt, and Arizona,” said head coach Lori Bennett about the tournament in mid-September. “Our intent going into that weekend was just to get better and play at a higher level and that’s exactly what happened. Since then we’ve just been failing to finish.”

Bennett attributed this to unforced errors because of a lack of experience.

“We’ve got a lot of young players on the court so they’re making adjustments, getting used to handling more of the responsibility that they haven’t had in the past,” she said.

Junior outside hitter Eliza Zwettler said the current slump is because the team has not been able to play a complete game together.

She said the team just has to not let down and play steady throughout the game.

“Once we start playing a complete game and complete match we’ll start winning matches,” Zwettler said.

The current streak has been plagued with errors, both attack and service.

While the Panthers have had more kills than their opponents combined, they have also had 140 more errors.

Another problem plaguing Eastern has been its services. The Panthers had been working throughout preseason practices on changing their serve to a jump serve and looked strong through non-conference play.

Now, with the first half of the season done, the Panthers have had 134 aces, but 201 errors, some of which have come at crucial times in the match.

“It’s just that they’re making too many errors, and a lot of them are coming at the end of the game after we fight pretty hard for most of it,” Bennett said.

The Panthers started off on a 3-0 start, the first 3-0 start since 1997.

The five non-conference teams Eastern beat, though, have combined for only 24 wins, with each team having between four and six.

Bennett said the non-conference teams Eastern played might have been weaker than what the Ohio Valley Conference has been this year.

“South Alabama and Stetson, we won both of those 3-0,” she said. “Those were teams that didn’t compete against us.”

The Panthers are already in the second half of the season, with eight matches left.

Starting this Friday against ninth-place Samford, Eastern has five home matches in a row.

The Panthers also play Austin Peay on Oct. 27. The Lady Governors are in tenth place, one spot ahead of Eastern.

To complement the lower teams though, the Panthers will have to play first-place Jacksonville State Saturday night and then travel there for the next to the last game.

“I think all the teams in our conference this year are stronger then last year, which is a great situation really because you want to have to go out every day and play well to win,” Bennett said.

These next eight matches could decide if the Panthers will make it into the conference tournaments this year or not.

Only the top six teams in the 11-team conference compete in the tournament.

Zwettler said she thinks the team is not out of the running for the postseason tournament.

“I think it’s possible,” Zwettler said. “Each game we feel like we’re getting closer to where we need to be. I think if we win one match we’ll turn it around.”