From Washington University Athletics

The Washington University in St. Louis men's tennis team is ranked No. 3 in the 2015 Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Rankings, as announced Tuesday by the Association. The Bears are also ranked No. 1 in the Central Region.

Defending national champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges opens the season as the top-ranked team in Division III. The Stags posted a 32-2 record a year ago, and claimed the program's first national championship since 1981. Runner-up Middlebury College, WashU, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Emory University round out the top five.

15th-year head coach Roger Follmer guided WashU to a school-record 22-6 overall record in 2014-15. The Bears made also made their seventh Final Four appearance in the last eight seasons.

Senior captains Josh Cogan and Tyler Kratky highlight 10 letterwinners and six starters back from a year ago. Juniors Jeremy Bush and John Carswell and sophomores Jason Haugen and Johnny Wu also return for the Bears in 2015-16.

In the national individual rankings, Middlebury's Noah Farrell holds the top spot. Farrell won the Division III men's singles title at the 2015 National Small College Championships in October. In doubles, the Trinity University (Texas) team of Adam Krull and Matt Tyer owns the top position after winning doubles title at the National Small College Championships.

WashU opens the spring season at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The Bears will have 12 matches this season against teams ranked in the top-40.