Both the men’s and women’s tennis squads ended their spring seasons on Monday. Even though the members of the two teams that were sent to the two tournaments didn’t come away with a victory, the players did manage to prove themselves against a high level of competition.

The men and women both participated in the ITA Midwest Championships, which featured some of the best teams in the Midwest. The men’s tournament was hosted by Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. The women went to Kalamazoo, Mich., with Western Michigan hosting the tournament.

The men sent two seniors, C.J. Weber and Brandon Blankenbaker, to compete in the tournament.

Blankenbaker won his qualifying match against Indiana State’s Aaron Phillips 6-2, 6-4. But he didn’t find the same kind of success in the first round of the tournament as he was defeated by Louisville’s Johnny Berrido 6-3, 6-1.

Weber was more competitive in his match against Michigan State’s Chris Mitchell but still lost 7-5, 7-6 (8).

Weber and Blankenbaker also competed together in doubles, but lost to Louisville’s Jeremy Clark and Jakob Gustafsson by a score of 8-6.

Even though both the players Eastern sent to the ITA Midwest Championships did not come out on the winning end of their matches, they did prove to themselves and the rest of the team that they could play well against schools Eastern normally does not compete well against.

Players from top conferences such as the Big 10 and Conference USA competed at the championship and gave Eastern the chance to play against teams that are highly touted across the nation.

“While we have seen this kind of competition over the last couple of springs, this always helps our level of competitiveness on the team,” Eastern coach Brian Holzgrafe said.

“It helps the kids see that they belong on the same court as any team in the nation. I’ve seen coaches’ jaws drop after they realize that the little team from Eastern can actually play.”

The women didn’t come out of their tournament with a victory, but also kept with some tougher schools.

Eastern’s top woman player Becky Brunner lost her first round match and her consolation round match. Both matches were close enough to go to a tie breaker.

Her first match was against Ball State’s Jessica Thompson who came from behind to win 4-6,6-3, 6-4. In her consolation round match she lost 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (8).

“Becky (Brunner) showed how tough of a player she is in this tournament,” Holzgrafe said. “She may have played the worst I’ve seen her play, but she still stayed tough throughout both of her matches and pushed her opponents as much as she could.

“I would go into battle with Becky; she is our best player and fought through her struggles this weekend and nearly won both matches.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will have to wait until the middle of January before their Spring seasons start. Coming out of these tournaments, Holzgrafe believes both teams will play with a newfound confidence when the spring season begins.

“Eastern tennis is becoming more respected as we go along,” Holzgrafe said. “The tradition we are building is exciting and is exactly what is needed in a program like this.”