SKILLMAN, N.J. – The defending Mountain East Conference champion West Liberty University men's tennis program is making an impact at the national level.

Not only have Coach Sam McCullough's Hilltoppers cracked the Top 50 in the 2015-16 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Division II Fall National Team Rankings, three members of the WLU squad are nationally ranked in singles or doubles.

After following up a sweep of the USTA/ITA Atlantic Regional championships with a strong showing at October's 2015 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships in Sumter, S.C., West Liberty vaulted into the national team rankings at No. 49.

The Hilltoppers' Atlantic Region singles champion Baptiste Perrin, who placed seventh at the National Small College Championships, was ranked No. 24 nationally in NCAA Division II singles.

West Liberty's Atlantic Region champion doubles tandem of Andrew Ponder and Santiago Gutierrez, which finished sixth in the South Carolina event, checked in at No. 12 among the nation's top NCAA Division II doubles pairings.

As the governing body of college tennis, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) administers the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. They are designed to track the top men's and women's teams, along with singles and doubles players in NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and California Junior Colleges.

The Hilltoppers, unbeaten in MEC play a year ago, return to the court Feb. 5-6 when they compete in the UC Invitational hosted by the University of Charleston.