PHILADELPHIA – The University of Rochester squash team ended its season on a high note, defeating #17 ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology 8-1 in the 5th place match at the College Squash Association Hoehn Cup Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center.
 
With the win, the Yellowjackets will rank 17th in the College Squash Association and end the season with a 10-9 record. The Engineers cap the 2024-25 season with a 10-11 record.
 
Four of Rochester's wins came by 3-0 sweeps, including at the top two spots on the ladder, from seniors Yash Fadte and Omar Zakaria. UR's other sweeps were from Thomas Valderrama at six and Van Inman-Benavente at eight.
 
Rochester's win over MIT was the second of the season, as the Yellowjackets defeated the Engineers 5-4 in the season-opening match back on November 16.
 
The opening wave of matches saw Rochester go up 2-1. Preston Wu won the opening point after his opponent at number nine, Lars Barkman, had to retire just four points into the match.
 
At three, Dhirren Rajarathinam rallied after dropping the first game to win over John Gunton 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 and 11-4.
 
The final match of the opening wave was MIT's lone point of the day, with Sean-Winston Luo edging Tom Whiteley 6-11, 11-8, 12-10 and 11-5.
 
During the rest of the match, it was all Rochester, with the Yellowjackets posting six straight wins to close out the season.
 
Fadte made quick work at number one, winning 11-6, 11-8 and 11-4 over Mero Elmarassy to put UR on top 3-1. Fadte won 3-0 in all three matches during the Hoehn Cup tournament.
 
The next point was secured by Jake Koeppel at seven, with the UR senior winning in five games, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 6-11 and 11-7.
 
Wrapping up the second wave was another senior, Arnav Mandhana who won in four games over Robert Albani 12-14, 11-5, 11-7 and 11-9 to claim the match-clinching point. Mandhana has a knack for winning big matches at the Hohen Cup, as he claimed the championship point last season in UR's 6-3 win over Williams.
 
In the final set of matches UR won all three in sweeps. Senior co-captain Zakaria won 11-8, 11-8 and 11-6 over Philip Hyun Su Price at number two, sophomore Inman-Benavente won in three games at number eight (11-9, 11-9, 11-6) and Valderrama defeated Mitav Nayak at six (11-9, 15-13, 11-9).