Photo courtesy of UR Athletics
This past week, the University of Rochester Men’s squash team was back in action after a nearly two-week break from matches. They took on Cornell and University of Western Ontario after a tough, hard fought loss to Franklin & Marshall College.
The team clearly demonstrated that one loss was not going to impact the continuation of a great season, as they showed their depth with dominant victories over both opponents. The team won by a score of 8-1 against Cornell, with the only loss coming from the one position. Cornell’s top-ranked player, Aditya Jagtap, who is in the top 10 individual rankings in the College Squash Association, was able to overcome Rochester reigning All-American Mario Yañez in Cornell’s only win of the day.
The ‘Jackets added a second win to their streak after taking down Western Ontario with a score of 9-0. Rochester also won the exhibition game in both matches.
Against Western Ontario, the team dropped just three games in total, winning the majority of matches 3-0.
This past week concluded the final matches of the regular season, giving the Rochester Men’s squash team a final record of 10-4. This season’s performance was strong enough to qualify the Yellowjackets for the Potter Cup, the College Squash Association’s National Team Championships.
UR is seeded sixth entering the tournament and has its first match scheduled for Friday against third-ranked Harvard University.
Although the team is positioned in the lower half of the bracket, they have the potential to pull off a few upsets and make a great run. In the past, they have beaten both the number one and three seeds in the tournament and should be entering confident that they have the potential to take down any team in the nation.
Rallying behind the team’s three former All-Americans and great play from freshman Tomotaka Endo throughout the season at the number four position, the Yellowjackets are potentially set up to make their best run yet at a national championship.
Kuhrt is a member of the class of 2017.
