POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The University of Rochester squash team is halfway to its goal of capturing its third straight Liberty League title this weekend after posting two victories on day one of the conference championship at Vassar College on Saturday evening.
 
10th-ranked Rochester (3-5) earned a 9-0 win over co-host Vassar and backed it up with an 8-1 performance against 15th-ranked St. Lawrence in its second match of the day. The Yellowjackets play the other co-host Bard and Hobart on Sunday and two wins will earn Rochester the team title.
 
In the opening match, the Yellowjackets won all nine positions and a tenth exhibition match in 3-0 sweeps. Two highlights were Varun Kumar and Nic Gill picking up their first wins of the season in Rochester's top-9 at #8 and #9 respectively.
 
Gill's win matched teammate Luis Moncada at #3 in yielding the fewest points allowed against his opponent, just seven across three games. Moncada defeated Henry Mitchell 11-2, 11-3 and 11-2, while Gill's victory came against Liam Condon 11-3, 11-2 and 11-2.
 

Kumar only surrendered ten points (11-5, 11-2, 11-3) in his win over Reese Collins, while both Quinlan Jeudy (#6) and Alejandro Porras (#5) each posted sweeps by giving up just 11 points across the three games.
 
During the nightcap, Rochester earned wins from positions two through ten against a resurgent St. Lawrence squad who has vaulted up the CSA rankings this season.
 
Yash Fadte (#2), Abdelrahman Lasheen (#3) Omar Zakaria (#5) and Jeudy (#9) each won in 3-0 sweeps, along with exhibition player Tom Whiteley.
 
Zakaria earned the best win, giving up just 18 total points in his 11-3, 11-6 and 11-9 win. Fadte battled Nathan Mead and won 11-8, 11-9 and 11-7, while Jeudy earned an 11-8, 12-10 and 11-5 win over Oliver Bikhazi-Green. Lasheen won 11-8, 11-9 and 11-9 over Alejandro Moncada.
 
Two Yellowjackets, Emilio Carrillo and Alejandro Porras showed their fight, and each rallied from 0-2 down in their matches to win in five games by 3-2 scores. Carrillo played at #7 and rallied against James Barrow for a 5-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5 and 11-5 win. Porras fell to Dean Brooker in the opening two games 9-11 and 7-11 before rattling of wins of 13-11, 13-11 and 11-9 to complete the comeback.
 
Rochester also earned a four-game win from Jake Koeppel at #6. St. Lawrence's Lewis Anderson earn the Saints lone point at #1, defeating Cesar Segundo in three games.