In Review

The Yellowjackets’ winter sports teams had momentum on their side going into 2016.

Squash headed into the semester break with a 5–1 record after home court wins over Princeton and top-ranked Harvard. Men’s and women’s basketball each won the Chuck Resler Invitational. Men’s and women’s swimming hosted and won the Liberty League championships.

That’s after fall teams concluded successful seasons. Tara Lamberti ’16 and Michelle Relin ’16 were named All-Americans in field hockey. And men’s soccer qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. Finishing 10–5–4, Rochester was ranked 20th in the final Division III national poll.

Squash: Rochester finished second in the Liberty League championships with a 3–1 mark. The Yellowjackets defeated Hobart, Vassar, and Bard before losing to second-ranked St. Lawrence. On the first weekend of December, Rochester defeated 11th-ranked Princeton and followed that with a victory over top-ranked Harvard, the defending national champion.

Ryosei Kobayashi ’17 clinched the Princeton match with a 3-1 win at the No. 2 position. Mario Yanez ’17 won, 3–0, at No. 1. In the Harvard match, Neil Cordell ’16, Kobayashi, Meng Xiaomen ’17, and Yanez all won to even the match at 4–4. Tomotoka Endo ’18 won, 3–1, at the No. 4 position to clinch the victory. Endo did it in dramatic fashion, building a 2–1 lead in games and winning the fourth game, 13–11.

Women’s basketball: Boosted by a large group of talented newcomers, Rochester raced to a 7–1 start and moved back into the national rankings. The Yellowjackets were ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/WBCA poll. Rochester won the Chuck Resler Invitational, beating Ferrum College in the final. The high-powered offense topped 80 points five times in six games as Rochester reached the championship game of the Wendy’s College Classic before falling to Roberts Wesleyan College.

Al Leslie ’18 and Ally Zywicki ’15 have provided a solid inside-outside scoring touch with Leslie getting 15.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Zywicki was averaging 10.5 points a game.

Men’s basketball: Rochester stood at 4–4 with two games left before the holidays. The Yellowjackets won the Chuck Resler Invitational by defeating Gordon (Mass.) College and Utica College. Kevin Sheehy ’15 was named the MVP. Mack Montague ’17 was named to the all- tournament team. Sam Borst-Smith ’17 was named to the all-tournament team for the Holiday Inn Airport Thanksgiving Classic as well as the Wendy’s Classic.