NEW YORK – The University of Rochester squash team took on its first top-10 ranked opponent of the weekend, falling by a 6-3 score to #10 Tufts University at the SL Green Streetsquash Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Rochester (1-2), ranked #15 in the current College Squash Association poll, got wins from the top-2 players in the lineup, seniors Yash Fadte and Omar Zakaria, along with number seven player Arnav Mandhana.
 
Tufts (2-3) was able to take the rest of the matches, but the Yellowjackets earned set wins in four of those matches, showcasing their ability to hang with the Jumbos in those contests.
 
The opening wave featured matches at #3, #6 and #9, with Tufts earning a sweep to vault ahead 3-0. Jared Chin won 11-9, 11-8 and 11-7 over Jake Koeppel at six, while Emerson Wang rallied in the fourth set against Nic Gill at nine, winning 11-2, 11-8, 9-11 and 12-10. At three, a hotly-contested match between Dhirren Rajarathinam and Santiago Medina went in favor of the Tufts play in four sets. Medina won 12-10, 12-10, 8-11 and 11-7.
 
Tufts was able to build its lead to four after seeing Kerwin Teh defeat Tom Whiteley in four games at the fourth position (11-5, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8).
 
UR managed to stay alive though winning the next two matches to end the second wave trailing by a 4-2 score. Mandhana earned a four-game win at seven over Rutva Samant (11-3, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9). At two, Zakaria managed to rally after dropping the opening game to Nachiket Desai 11-7, winning the next three to swipe the victory. Zakaria's set wins were all close, winning 11-8, 12-10 and 13-11.
 
In the final set of matches, Tufts secured the clinching point with wins at number eight and number five before Fadte closed out play with a sweep at the top spot. At number eight, Shivin Kumar won the fifth team point with a 3-0 victory against Van Inman-Benavente, winning 11-7 in all three games.
 
Rohan Valia added to the Tufts score with a 3-1 win against Thomas Valderrama at number five, with Fadte then posting his win at the top of the ladder against Aarav Gill, posting scores of 11-8, 11-5 and 11-6.
 
UR completes its tough weekend of matches on Sunday, squaring off against host Columbia who is #8 in the CSA team rankings, at 11 am.