CANTON, NY – The University of Rochester squash team earned its fifth straight and 11th overall conference title, downing host St. Lawrence University 7-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty League Squash Championships at SLU's Robie Squash Center.
 
Rochester (7-3), the tournament's top seed and winners of five straight matches, jumped out to a big early lead and clinched the match without much opposition through the opening five points. Four of those five wins came by 3-0 sweeps, with junior Arnav Mandhana posting the championship clinching point at number seven for the Yellowjackets.
 
UR's opening wave featured the two team captains, junior Omar Zakaria and classmate Tom Whiteley earning sweeps for the first two points. Zakaria won 11-3, 11-3 and 11-4 at number three over Harrison Callaway, with Whiteley following suit with am 11-8, 11-9 and 11-4 win over Vladimir Iglesias at the six spot.
 

Senior Emilio Carrillo put the Yellowjackets up 3-0 on the team scoreboard following his four-game win over Jack Turvey at the nine slot in the order. Carrillo rallied after dropping the opening game 8-11, winning three straight 11-8, 11-7 and 14-12 to secure the point.
 
To start wave two, senior Luis Moncada kept things rolling with a sweep of Oliver Bikhazi-Green at position four, earning an 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 win.
 
As Moncada was earning his win, Mandhana was in the process of his three-game win over Hassar Madkour in what proved to be the clinching match. The Rochester junior won 11-8, 11-6 and 11-5 to make the score 5-0 in favor of the Yellowjackets.
 
In a battle between two All-Americans at the top of the order, St. Lawrence's Lewis Anderson rallied for a win against Rochester's Yash Fadte in what proved to be the only five-game contest of the day. Fadte won 11-7 and 11-4 over the first two games, but Anderson fought back with an 11-8 and 11-9 win in sets three and four. In the back-and-forth fifth game, Anderson edged out a 12-10 extra points win during the opening point for the Saints (10-10).
 
Anderson ended up being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Performer for his effort in helping get the 3rd-seeded Saints to the title match for the second straight season.
 
At positions two and five, senior Abdelrahman Lasheen and junior Jake Koeppel earned two more 3-0 wins to boost the score to 7-1 Rochester before the Saints earned their final point at number eight, with Athrva Yadav topping Nic Gill.
 
The Yellowjackets now will shift their focus to the upcoming College Squash Association Team Divisional Championships set for next weekend. The tournament features varsity teams ranked from #13 through #34 in the CSA rankings and will be held at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia from February 16-18.