PHOENIX, Ariz. – The UCLA men's tennis team came in at No. 7 in the Oracle/ITA Preseason National Team Rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Wednesday.

UCLA is one of four Pac-12 schools on the list. The Bruins are accompanied by No. 5 USC, No. 10 Stanford and No. 24 Arizona State. All three will visit Los Angeles Tennis Center in 2019. UCLA will also face off with No. 16 Illinois in a road non-conference match.

The Bruins will begin their 2019 campaign Wednesday, Jan. 16, when Nevada and UC Davis come to Los Angeles Tennis Center for a doubleheader. Those matches will be played at 10 a.m., PT and 2:30 p.m., respectively. In all, the defending Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champions will host 15 matches, including the final five of the regular season. For the full schedule, click HERE.

Senior Maxime Cressy and sophomore Keegan Smith return to the fold after breakout 2018 showings. A team-high six of Cressy's 33 singles victories came in a clinching fashion and the versatile native of France also contributed 23 doubles wins. He achieved a conference-best three Pac-12 Player of the Week nods along the way. The only Bruin with more singles triumphs than Cressy was Smith, who debuted with a 40-7 mark. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year achieved All-America status from the ITA after falling just short of the final round at the NCAA Doubles Championships. Cressy and Smith went a combined 32-2 in singles matches played from Feb. 19 through May 20. Connor Hance and Bryce Pereira also return after standout freshman efforts that aided the Bruins on their way to the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles, as well as the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships.

Seven newcomers are joining the fold, including recent enrollees Govind Nanda and Patrick Zahraj. They accompany fellow freshmen Roscoe Bellamy, Eric Hahn, Blaine Hovenier, Mathew Tsolakyan and Max Wild.