CANTON, NY – The University of Rochester squash team will vie for its sixth straight Liberty League title following a 7-2 win over Denison University on Saturday afternoon at St. Lawrence University's Robie Squash Center.
 
Rochester (7-6), the #14 ranked team in the latest College Squash Association rankings, earned a first round bye in the Liberty League Tournament by virtue of being the event's top-seeded squad. Denison (5-9) advanced to the semifinals with a 7-2 win over Hobart earlier in the day on Saturday.
 
In Saturday's semifinal, the Yellowjackets earned six sweeps in a row to start the match, quickly earning the clinching point in the second wave of matches.
 
The opening points came from Karim Moataz and number eight, Nic Gill at number six and Dhirren Rajarathinam at number two. Moataz defeated Rayan Dar 11-1, 11-6 and 11-0, while Gill earned an 11-3, 11-7 and 11-4 win over Gus Nelson.
 
Rajarathinam completed the opening wave sweep with a victory over Tarun Mammen, recording scores of 11-6, 11-4 and 11-5.
 
In wave two, first-year Preston Wu (#7) and sophomore Van Inman-Benavente (#5) finished just minutes apart to clinch the match, moving the score to 5-0 in favor of Rochester. Wu defeated Wylly Molten 11-6, 11-5 and 11-6, while Inman-Benavente secured an 11-5, 11-7, 11-9 triumph over Alex DeLuca.
 
At three, co-captain Tom Whiteley made it two straight sweeps following his 11-4, 11-3 and 11-0 win over Lucas Piller.
 
In the final set of matches, Denison took its only two points at number nine and number one, before UR's Arnav Mandhana closed out the action with a four-game win (11-5, 11-6, 3-11, 11-7) at number four against Charlie Fenwick IV.
 
The Yellowjackets will battle host St. Lawrence University in the championship match on Sunday morning at 10:30 am. UR has won five straight conference titles dating back to the 2017-18 season, with no tournament being contested in the 2020-21 campaign.