SKILLMAN, N.J. – In the first rankings of the fall season, the Western New Mexico University tennis teams each landed in the top-10 of the South Central Regional rankings in the poll released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

The men, coming off of a regional appearance last year against St. Edward's, enter the rankings at No. 4 right behind St. Edward's. Midwestern State holds the top spot, followed by Cameron. The Mustangs are the highest ranked team out of the RMAC as they are also joined by Metro State (7), Colorado Mesa (8) and CSU-Pueblo (10).

Juniors Jean-Laurent Pageault (Perrigny, France/Academi des Hauts de Nimes) and Sascha Brechtel (Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany/Kurpfalz Gymnasium Mannheim ) are ranked in the top-10 in the region. Pageault comes in at No. 3 after going 9-10 in singles play last year with a majority of his matches (8-9) coming at the No. 2 position. He went a perfect 5-0 in conference play and went 13-9 in doubles play that included a perfect 5-0 RMAC mark with teammate Pablo Santibanez (Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico/CETYS Universidad).

Brechtel sat out last year due to injury and will return this season. During the 2014 season he went 10-11 in singles play, collecting wins at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6. He added a 7-7 doubles mark with teammates Omar Lopez (Naucalpan, Mexico) and Pageault.

Already this fall both Pageault and Brechtel advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall Regionals that took place in San Antonio.

WNMU went 13-10 overall last year and again had a perfect 5-0 regular season and 2-0 RMAC Tournament record. The Mustangs collected their sixth straight conference regular season and tournament crowns. In addition to Pageault and Brechtel the Mustangs also return sophomores Tristan Da Lio (Casablanca/Academie des Hauts de Nimes), Vladimir Gnilozubov (Kazakhstan, Astana/Kazakhstan), Santibanez and two new freshmen in Liam Fraboulet (Lycee Kerraoul, Paimpol, France) and Blayze O'Keefe (Las Vegas, NV).

On the women's side, the Lady Mustangs entered at ninth in the region. They are the only RMAC school ranked. St. Mary's is the top-ranked school, followed by Cameron and Midwestern State in the top-three.

WNMU returns seniors Claudia Osuna (Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico/Tec Milenio ), Diamond Morrill (Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad), Ashley Newell (Las Vegas, NV/Silverado) and junior Tiffany Newell (Las Vegas, NV/Silverado ) from last year's RMAC regular season and tournament championship team. The Lady Mustangs went 12-12 overall and had a perfect 5-0 regular season and 2-0 conference tournament records and advanced to regionals where they faced St. Mary's. WNMU will also have two new players on the team in junior transfer Gemma Goodland (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia/Maribyrnong College Sports Academy) and freshman Audrey Spencer (Wichita Falls, TX/Rider).