Going into the Omni tournament, Eastern tennis head coach Brian Holzgrafe has liked what he has seen from both his men’s and women’s teams as the Fall season comes to a close. The tournament will be held in East Lansing, Mich., from Oct. 23-28 and will feature most schools from the Midwest.

Playing in the tournament will be Big 10 conference powers Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State.

Holzgrafe compares playing these top teams as a David vs. Goliath matchup.

“Regardless of who we play, we’ll come out to compete,” Holzgrafe said.

About 50 percent of both the men’s and women’s team at Eastern are underclassmen. As the season has continued to progress, Holzgrafe still sees potential and has high expectations for all of his players.

“They have a lot of potential to be good, but there is a lot of hard work to be done,” Holzgrafe said.

Holzgrafe had only good things to say about his senior leaders on both sides.

“You are simply the best and you could not ask for more from them,” Holzgrafe said.

He hopes to see his younger players follow the same tradition and meet the same expectations.

Both teams are coming off recent success at Western Illinois University. The men’s team completed a 6-0 singles sweep, on their way to their third straight Mayor’s Cup. The team was led by seniors C.J. Weber and Brandon Blankenbaker. On the other side, the women’s team also won its third Mayor Cup in a row with senior Becky Brunner leading the way.

The Panthers are looking for big performances from Weber and Brunner. Both have performed well in tournaments. Holzgrafe said Weber will be able to compete with many of the top players from the participating teams.

From a team standpoint, Holzgrafe hopes that the Panthers remain focused and give it all they have throughout their matches.

“In Pressure situations, some people succeed in those situations and some do not,” Holzgrafe said.