CANTON, N.Y. (February 4, 2023) – The No. 33 Denison University men's squash team started off the 2023 Liberty League Championship with a 7-1 win over No. 43 Vassar College, followed by a 9-0 defeat to No. 13-ranked the University of Rochester on Saturday at the Robie Squash Center in Canton, New York. With a record of 1-1, the Big Red will advance to play in the third-place match during the championship round.
Making its Liberty League Squash Championship debut against Vassar, Denison won all seven matches that were played and earned 3-0 wins by
Juan Felipe Hernandez (No. 1 seed),
Tarun Mammen (No. 2 seed),
Huma Bekhiet (No. 3 seed),
Rayan Dar (No. 5 seed) and
Joao Victor Barbosa Gomes (No. 6 seed).
The best match for Denison against Rochester was a 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9) defeat for Bekhiet at the No. 3 seed. In addition, Hernandez put up a competitive effort at the No. 1 seed, falling 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8).
Rochester is currently the Liberty League's top-ranked team and has won nine Liberty League championships all time, including three straight.
After finishing second in Pod A, Denison will advance to play in the third-place match on Sunday, February 5, against either No. 21 Hobart College or No. 22 St. Lawrence University at 10:15 a.m.
Denison 7, Vassar 1:
1S:
Juan Felipe Hernandez def. Sameer Mustafa 3-1 (11-4, 11-2, 11-3)
2S:
Tarun Mammen def. Razaan Lalji 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-3)
3S:
Huma Bekhiet def. Luke Chen 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-4)
4S:
Lucas Piller def. Jarid Haslinger 3-1 (11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3)
5S:
Rayan Dar def. Kyle Benson 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-4)
6S:
Joao Victor Barbosa Gomes def. Josh Finkelstein 3-0 (11-3, 11-8, 11-1
7S:
Suryansh Agrawal def. Matthew O'Leary 3-1 (11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11)
8S: Wyatt Kern def. Default (DF)
Denison 0, Rochester 9:
1S: Abdelrahman Lasheen def.
Juan Felipe Hernandez 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-8)
2S: Yash Fadte def.
Tarun Mammen 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-7)
3S: Luis Moncada def.
Huma Bekhiet 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-9)
4S: Omar Zakaria def.
Lucas Piller 3-0 (12-10, 11-1, 11-6)
5S: Quinlan Jeudy def.
Rayan Dar 3-0 (11-6, 11-0, 11-4)
6S: Tom Whiteley def.
Joao Victor Barbosa Gomes 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-3)
7S: Alejandro Porras Diaz def.
Suryansh Agrawal 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5)
8S: Nicholas Gill def. Default (DF)
9S: Arnav Mandhana def. Default (DF)
