[johnbar]

7 service errors by our team in the first set.  That has nothing to do with missing players to injury or sickness.  Just poor play.

Could they have been trying to compensate for the weakness of the team on the floor by being (too) aggressive with their serves?

I don't think they were more aggressive than usual.
I'm fine with the usual "serve tough and accept a few SEs". 
But there are times when you're struggling and you just have to get it in, to avoid killing any momentum.  And it does seem like the SEs have been excessive lately. 
So maybe it was the usual "serve aggressively" and jitters from the unusual line up just made things worse.

[johnbar]

7 service errors by our team in the first set.  That has nothing to do with missing players to injury or sickness.  Just poor play.

Could they have been trying to compensate for the weakness of the team on the floor by being (too) aggressive with their serves?

I don't think they were more aggressive than usual.
I'm fine with the usual "serve tough and accept a few SEs". 
But there are times when you're struggling and you just have to get it in, to avoid killing any momentum.  And it does seem like the SEs have been excessive lately. 
So maybe it was the usual "serve aggressively" and jitters from the unusual line up just made things worse.