HANOVER, NH – The University of Rochester squash team battled, but fell victim to host Dartmouth College on Sunday afternoon, falling by a 7-2 score at the Berry Squash Courts.
 
Sunday's matchup was a big, early-season rankings triumph for the Big Green (1-0), as Dartmouth entered the contest #12 and Rochester #15 in the College Squash Association rankings. UR falls to 1-1 after opening the season on Saturday with a victory over MIT.
 
The first wave of matches saw Dartmouth vault out to a 3-0 lead, with wins at two, four and eight. Quintin Campbell earning the opening point with a 3-0 win over Tom Whiteley at four. Both of the other first wave matches went five sets.
 
At two, UR's Omar Zakaria battled Christian Shah. Shah won the opening set 11-7, but Zakaria responded with back-to-back wins, 11-6 and 11-4, to go up 2-1. Shah fended off the UR senior's victory with an 11-9 win and ultimately completed the comeback with an 11-8 triumph in the fifth.
 
In the eight spot, Dartmouth's Rana Thakkar rallied from 2-1 down, taking the final two sets 12-10 and 11-6 against Van Inman-Benavente.
 
Across the second wave, Dartmouth clinched the match with a pair of wins at positions five and nine. Completing wave two, Rochester's Yash Fadte earned a four-game win over William Aube, posting scores of 10-12, 11-4, 11-6 and 11-4.
 
After the Big Green posted two more 3-0 sweeps at numbers six and seven in the lineup, sophomore Dhirren Rajarathinam closed out the action with a 3-1 victory over his opponent Ekam Singh, at number three. Rajarathinam won 11-6, 11-7, 6-11 and 11-5.
 
Up next, the Yellowjackets travel to New York City next weekend, playing a pair of matches against Tufts University and Columbia University.