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University of Rochester Athletics

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS
Yash Fadte
Rochester Athletics

‘Jackets Fall to #9 Cornell in Regular-Season Finale

2/19/2025 9:17:00 PM

By: Ari Ross, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
ITHACA, NY – 14th-ranked University of Rochester men's squash fell to the 9th-ranked Cornell University Big Red, 9-0, on Wednesday evening at the Belkin Squash Courts in their final match of the 2024-25 regular season.
 
The Big Red earned the first two points of the match at the No. 5 and 9 spots, where Tanay Punjabi swept Arnav Mandhana, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8, and Arnav Tevatia topped Nic Gill, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
 
At the No. 3 spot on the ladder, Dhirren Rajarathinam pushed Youssef Sarhan the distance, forcing a fifth game with an 11-9 win in game four, but the Big Red first-year pulled out the win in five: 11-7, 3-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-4, to put Cornell up 3-0 after the first round of matches.
 
Cornell added two more wins at the No. 6 and 7 spots on the ladder to clinch the win, as Shreemann Raghavan defeated Jacob Koeppel at the seven spot: 11-9, 11-5, 11-9, while Rohan Iyer clinched the victory, putting the Big Red up 5-0 with an 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 win over Thomas Valderrama at the sixth spot.
 
Roman Bicknell picked up another sweep for the Big Red at the No. 8 spot, beating Van Inman-Benavente, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, while Tom Whiteley avoided a sweep at the No. 4 spot on the ladder, winning the third game but falling to Syan Singh: 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8.
 
With the Big Red up 7-0, Yash Fadte gave Aaron Liang another tough bout at the No. 1 spot, bouncing back from dropping the first two sets to force a fifth game. But Liang proved to be too much in the end, as the Cornell senior edged the UR senior: 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 8-11, 11-9.
 
Omar Zakaria and Arnaav Sareen then wrapped things up for the two squads at the No. 2 spot, and while Zakaria took the first game, 14-12, Sareen would win the next three to take the match: 12-14, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7.
 
In exhibition action, Preston Wu took the first game against Jeh Pandole but fell: 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4.
 
With the loss, Rochester wraps up the regular season at 8-8, while the Big Red move to 6-8 on the year.
 
Rochester next will compete in the CSA Division Championships in Philadelphia, PA, beginning on Friday, Feb. 28, looking to defend their Hoehn Cup Title.