Establishing leadership in a predominantly individual sport can be a challenge, but doing it with a new head coach can make the task even more difficult.

But the men’s and women’s tennis teams have been easing into the start of the spring season and head coach Brian Holzgrafe has seen improvements over the past four weeks of competition.

On the men’s side, C.J. Weber has taken the reigns of the team despite his sophomore standing on the team.

“C.J. has been on top, and his work ethic has been unbelievable,” Holzgrafe said. “With C.J. at the helm, it has set a different tone. Not only do we have leadership from the seniors, but we have leaders throughout the team.”

Senior and team captain Andy Baker has also stepped up his leadership role this season.

“To see him grow in that position is great,” Holzgrafe said. “I couldn’t be more happy with the leadership.”

Having a strong root of leadership has emerged throughout the team and, according to Holzgrafe, has shown on the court.

“Practice has been great,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with the setbacks in stride and trying to find the win-win.”

The wins haven’t come as easily to the Panthers early in the season. The men opened the season with a 6-1 loss to Marquette and followed that with a 6-1 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a 5-2 loss to Saint Louis University. Eastern picked up its lone win against Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, 5-2.

“We got a good start, and Marquette is one of the top teams in the nation,” Holzgrafe said. “It really sets the tone for practice. They’re aware of what they need to do. It keeps you up to par.”

The most recent problem both the men and women face in practicing and competing indoors.

“We got to get out a couple of days this year, but we’ve been inside a lot,” Holzgrafe said. “It’s a clay-like surface and the Polish boys love it, but the Americans hate it. It’s a disadvantage with the timing elements.”

Competition will increase in the upcoming weeks, beginning with two trips this weekend. The men will face Valparaiso and the University of Illinois-Chicago while the women compete against Northern Illinois and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“On the women’s side, it’s a bit of an early season get-to-know-you, but there’s a tendency to be a bit too geling. It’s been a nice change of scenery for me.”

Becky Carlson has consistently played in Eastern’s No. 1 singles position while teammate Becky Brunner has played No. 2. Both combine for the Panther’s No. 2 doubles team.

For the men’s squad, Weber has been in the singles leader while teammate Brandon Blankenbaker plays No. 2 singles. Weber and Blankenbaker also play No. 1 doubles.

“You play doubles first in tennis, so it really sets the tone in the match,” Holzgrafe said. “If you put good thoughts in mind, you play better.”

Weber and Blankenbaker recently had doubles success against Marquette’s nationally-ranked doubles team of Ray Grill and Troy Delmege, defeating the duo 8-6.

“We’ve got a good doubles core,” Holzgrafe said. “The women are not as set as the men, but we’re competitive. I know it’s there.”

Tennis now moves into consecutive weekends of play through the month of March, opening the home competition March 23 when the men will face conference rival Tennessee-Martin while the women face Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.

“We’ve been waiting all year for these next two months,” Holzgrafe said.