CAMBRIDGE, MA – The University of Rochester squash team kicked off its 2024-25 campaign on Saturday afternoon, defeating the host Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-4 at MIT's Zesiger Center.
 
Rochester's win over the 17th-ranked Engineers (3-3) is the seventh straight in the all-time series. UR battled MIT twice last season, winning 6-3 during the regular season and 7-2 during the College Squash Association Hoehn Cup Tournament. UR (1-0) entered Saturday afternoon's match at #15 in the early season poll in the CSA.
 
UR got all five of its wins from the top five spots on the ladder. Seniors Yash Fadte, Omar Zakaria and Tom Whiteley were all 3-0 winners, playing at positions one, two and four, respectively. Sophomore Dhirren Rajarathinam also won in a sweep at the three spot, while Rochester's fifth win came from first-year Thomas Valderrama at number five.
 
In the opening wave, MIT took the early lead with a win at eight from Zachary Starr over Nic Gill. Starr won 11-4, 11-5 and 11-2 to give the hosts the advantage.
 
UR won the next two matches in the wave though, with Zakaria winning over Philip Hyun Su Price and Whiteley (11-8, 11-4, 13-11) earning his win over Robert Albani (11-9, 11-8, 13-11).
 
The next wave of matches featured positions one, five and nine. MIT earned another sweep at the bottom of the order, with Eddie Xue defeating Alejandro Porras, but Rochester took the other two slots to push the score to 4-1.
 
Fadte's win over Mero Elmarassy at one featured a tight first set at 13-11, but the UR senior responded with easy wins in the next two games, winning 11-0 and 11-2 to earn the victory.
 
At five, Valderrama outlasted Sean-Winston Luo in a 1-hour, 15-minute match, needing four games to take the point. The marathon second game went 18-16 to Luo, but Valderrama took the other three by 11-6, 11-4 and 11-8 scores to earn his first collegiate win.
 
Sitting up 4-2 on the scoreboard, Rochester needed just one more point to seal the match, with Rajarathinam picking up that victory at three against John Gunton. An 11-2 first game win set the tone for the sweep, with the reigning Liberty League Rookie of the Year at Hobart posting 12-10 and 11-7 wins to clinch the match.
 
Wrapping up play, MIT's Mitav Nayak won in three games over Arnav Mandhana in the six spot, while Collin Wen won in four games against Van Inman-Benavente at seven.
 
Rochester continues its opening weekend of matches on Sunday against #12 Dartmouth at noon in Hanover, New Hampshire.