For the first time in 78 games this season, Maren Crabtree did not play in a game on Friday nights match against Ohio Valley Conference standings leader Jacksonville State (9-2 OVC, 12-6 overall).

The senior setter from Muncie, Ind., has played in 82-of-83 games this season and has played in all 20 matches and started 17 this season.

In her place, starting Friday night’s match and the following match Saturday against Samford, was sophomore setter Lauren Schutte.

Schutte has appeared in four games this season.

Head coach Lori Bennett said the move was nothing personal, but that Schutte has been performing well lately.

“In practice, she has been winning and running a more efficient offense for a couple of weeks now,” she said. “So we decided to make that change to see how it worked in the match.”

Bennett said Schutte’s performance had its ups and downs.

“I think against Jacksonville State, she did a nice job in that match,” she said. “It came down more to passing and ball control. Whenever we’re not passing well, it doesn’t matter who’s setting – you can’t get any offense going. You can’t get into your systems.”

Bennett said Schutte struggled more against the Bulldogs on Saturday with ball handling errors early in the first game. She said the team could not get into rhythm, so Crabtree was brought back in game two.

Assistant coach Amy Schreiber echoed Bennett’s comments about the weekend change at setter starter and said it was nothing personal.

“Maren does a fantastic job running the offense, but Schutte was just getting some kids going, and we needed to see what kind of difference the change would make,” Schreiber said.

Senior outside hitter Eliza Zwettler said the team is comfortable playing with anyone on the team.

“We respond the same way to anyone who plays,” Zwettler said. “It’s not really that different. Everyone is used to playing together from practice.”

Reaction to dropping two matches last weekend

The Panthers lost to both OVC opponents Jacksonville State and Samford. The Gamecocks swept the Panthers 3-0 (30-20, 30-24, 30-19) and Samford beat Eastern 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-15, 30-26).

Bennett said she was unhappy with her team’s play last weekend.

“We were disappointed with the losses and the way we played, especially against Samford,” Bennett said. “Everyone is disappointed after the loss, but now we’re back at it and working hard.”

Bennett said her team members need to improve on maintaining their high level of play and staying in their systems.

Bennett said she felt the team performed well until it got to the 20th point, when the players really began to struggle at the end of the games.

Schreiber said she felt the team had many ups and downs, but thought the team performed decently.

“There were some good moments, but we really have to focus on finishing,” Schreiber said.

Zwettler said it would be hard to judge the performance of anyone on the team this past weekend because the entire team had a hard time.

Looking to jump up in the OVC standings

The Panthers will have two matches this weekend Friday and Saturday, hosting Tennessee State (9-2, 11-9) and Tennessee Tech (6-5, 12-10).

Bennett said she is focusing on the match against the Tigers first.

The Panthers lost to TSU in 3-2 Sept. 15.

“We were up 2-0 in the match at their place and we want another crack at them,” Bennett said.

The Panthers (2-9, 9-11) are currently in the in a tie with Austin Peay for the ninth spot in the OVC standings with a 2-9 record.

The future of the team

Both Bennett and Schreiber said the team’s future looks bright.

They both discussed the young talent that gets better each day.

Bennett said freshmen outside hitters Alex Zwettler and Kelsey Orr have been the most influential players from the young portion of the team.

“From the very beginning (they have played well), so I rely on them pretty heavily now,” she said. “They both give us a lot of stability and offense.”

Alex Zwettler has 249 kills, 25 serving aces,194 digs and 22 total blocks total; Orr has 181 kills, 28 serving aces, 188 digs and 23 total blocks total.

Bennett said freshman middle blocker Jorie Dieter has also been a nice surprise in the past few weeks.

Bennett said Dieter’s performance has been satisfactory enough to earn her a starting middle spot. Dieter has had 25 kills in the past four matches she has played.

“There are few people that work as hard as Jorie,” she said. “She’s not going to be outworked by anybody.”

Schreiber said a similar comment about the entire team’s effort level.

“They have really been working hard in practice and working on the little changes that effect wins and loses,” Schreiber said. “Our entire team has a good work ethic, and we have a lot of good, young talent. The future looks bright with that young talent.”

The second half of the season

Despite getting off to an 0-2 OVC start after the midpoint of the season, Bennett said she expects her team to improve in the second half of the season and have a better record than the 2-9 OVC record they had in the first half.

“We want to continue to get better and pick up some wins,” Bennett said. “We’re looking for something better than 2-9 in the first half. We have to get comfortable in being who we are and doing what we do.”

Bennett said the Panthers have to stop allowing other teams to keep them from doing what they’re capable of doing. She said they need to play at the level they know they can play at.

“We have to focus on the right thing, and the results will follow,” she said.

–Ohio Valley Conference volleyball standings