CANTON, NY – The University of Rochester squash team will vie for its seventh straight Liberty League Tournament crown after topping Haverford College 8-1 in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at St. Lawrence University's Robie Squash Center.
 
Six members from Rochester (5-5) were 3-0 winners on the day, as the Yellowjackets took points in the top-8 slots on the ladder to earn the team victory. Haverford drops to 5-11 on the season with the loss, after the Fords advanced earlier in the tournament on Saturday with a 6-3 win against Vassar.
 
The opening wave of matches saw the Yellowjackets race out to a 3-0 team lead. Thomas Valderrama won at three over Kai Schinaman 11-8, 11-6 and 11-7, while Arjith Mathew also earned a sweep at number five, topping Qianzhi Zhao 11-3, 11-7 and 11-6. Preston Wu completed the early wave one sweep with a four-game win against Nevin Mital at number eight, winning 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 and 11-9.
 
In the second set of matches, junior co-captain Dhirren Rajarathinam breezed past Ben Levy at the number two position to put the 'Jackets up 4-0 overall. Rajarathinam won 11-1, 11-9 and 11-2 to pull UR within one of clinching the victory.
 
That match-clinching point was secured by Kareem Azzam at number four over Jet Li. The Yellowjacket first-year player won 11-4, 11-7 and 11-7 to advance Rochester to the championship match.
 
Haverford closed out wave two with its lone match win of the day, coming from Francis Betkowski against Sam Knoll at number nine. Betkowski posted set scores of 11-6, 11-8 and 11-6.
 
In the final three matches on court, URochester earned two more sweeps, coming from Gilberto Aceves Moreno at number one and Karim Moataz at number six. Aceves Moreno defeated Aaryaman Jaising 11-3, 11-4 and 11-2, while Moataz secured an 11-4, 11-5 and 11-8 against Advait Chandramouli.
 
The last match completed was another 'Jacket win from Van Inman-Benavente over Dean Ibrahim in the seven slot. UR's co-captain dropped the first game 6-11 before winning three tight sets, 13-11, 12-10 and 11-9 to earn the win.
 
URochester will square off with host St. Lawrence University for the conference championship on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 pm. SLU won over Denison University 6-3 on Saturday to advance to the title match.