WACO, Texas - The Baylor men's tennis team will open the 2015 season ranked No. 6 with a total of three ranked players, after the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) unveiled its first rankings of the new season on Tuesday.

"Hosting the 2015 NCAA Tennis Championships makes this a historic time for Baylor University, Waco and our program," head coach Matt Knoll said. "We look forward to playing the most challenging schedule in the nation and hope to improve over the course of the spring."

The team ranking of No. 6 is the same ranking that the Bears earned to end the 2014 campaign and their highest ranking to start a season since being No. 5 in 2012. Last year, Baylor posted a 26-6 record and made the NCAA quarterfinals to continue a string of 13-straight years of ending the season in the NCAA round of 16 or better, the longest such streak in the country. BU finished in the top-20 for a 13th-straight year as well.

In 2015, the Bears will be looking to capture their 13th Big 12 regular season title in the last 16 years and the ninth league tournament crown in the last 14 years. The three BU student-athletes in the singles top-125, include the country's No. 5 ranked player in junior Julian Lenz. Senior Tony Lupieri is 26th, while junior Felipe Rios is No. 121.

Lenz was 7-2 in fall play, after being the country's top-ranked player in the preseason. He reached the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American. In 2014, Lenz was the winningest BU player with a 35-8 overall record. He was named the ITA National Player to Watch and ended the season ranked No. 4. Lenz has now been ranked in the ITA's top five for seven straight sets of rankings.

Lupieri was ranked 112th prior to enjoying a 7-2 fall season. He reached the semifinals of the Rice Fall Invitational and the USTA/ITA Regional Championships, while picking up wins over Texas A&M's then-15th-ranked Shane Vinsant and Texas Tech's then-No. 43 Felipe Soares. Last year, he posted a 31-9 record and a 17-5 mark in dual-match play. The No. 26 designation is a career high, surpassing the 79th that Lupieri was ranked in the fall of 2013.

Playing his first tennis at Baylor, Rios compiled a 7-3 record in the fall with a victory against then-68th-ranked Elliot Orkin of Florida. Rios, a junior, opened the year with four wins and ended the season with a loss in the quarterfinals of the Jack Kramer Club Intercollegiate.

Meanwhile in doubles, Rios and Lupieri team together to form the country's 13th-ranked tandem. The duo was 4-1 in fall play together, including a 2-0 mark against ranked foes. The best win for the first-year pairing was a 1-6, 6-2, 10-7 triumph against then-No. 5 Nick Chapell and Will Stein of TCU in October that helped them reach the finals of the USTA/ITA Regional Championships.

Baylor is one of just 10 schools nationally to have both its men's team and women's squad ranked in the top 15. The Lady Bears are 15th in the country.

The Bears will start the 2015 season with individual play at the Sherwood Invitational on Jan. 16, before opening its dual-match season on Jan. 21 by hosting No. 11 Illinois at 2 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.

To stay current on all things Baylor Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorMTennis.