POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.—The Hobart College squash team, which is ranked 27th in the latest College Squash Association team rankings, split its matches at the 2022 Liberty League Squash Championship at Vassar College this weekend. The Statesmen posted a 2-2 record and finished third at the conference championship.
 
Hobart (7-9) opened the round robin with three matches on Saturday. The Statesmen defeated Vassar and Bard, 9-0. Fifteenth-ranked St. Lawrence defeated Hobart 8-1. The Statesmen closed out the tournament this afternoon against Rochester. The 10th-ranked Yellowjackets defeated Hobart 9-0 to finish the tournament undefeated and claim their third-straight conference crown.
 
The Statesmen opened the tournament against the Brewers (5-7). Hobart won all nine matches 3-0. Playing his first career match in the No. 1 spot, Hussein Labib knocked off Jalali Rithik, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8. The win was Labib's seventh of the season. Omar Kiwan improved to 6-4 in the second spot of the lineup with an 11-5, 11-6, 11-3 victory over Sameer Mustafa. It was Kiwan's seventh victory of the season. Mo Abdelhafez, Joey Lantos and Giacomo Dalle Molle notched wins in the Nos. 3-5 spots, respectively. Roberto Vega defeated Alex Wisneski, 11-1, 11-3, 11-1, in the No. 6 spot to earn his eighth win of the season. James Mazarelli, Sayf Elhawary and Cameron Temoyan completed the sweep with wins in the bottom third of the lineup.
 
The Raptors (0-1) were playing their first match of the season when they took on the Statesmen. Joey Lantos, James Mazzarelli and Quran Davis posted 3-0 wins in the top three spots for Hobart. Lantos knocked off Martin Graham, 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 for his seventh win of the season. Mazzarelli swept Alex Luscher, 11-2, 11-0, 11-2, to notch his eighth win of the season. Davis bested Jacob Nathan, 11-1, 11-2, 11-2, logging his third win of the year. Bard had three players so Hobart won the other points by default.
 
Hobart closed out Saturday's matches against the Saints (12-3). Three of St. Lawrence's points came via 3-0 sweeps while the other five points were 3-1 wins. Kiwan had a tight match in the second spot but was edged 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 11-6. The Statesmen's lone point came in the No. 8 spot. Elhawary was up 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 in his match when Jack Turvey retired.
 
The Yellowjackets (5-5) swept Hobart with 3-0 wins in eight of the nine matches. Lantos fought hard but was edged by Omar Zakaria, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5.
 
The Statesmen will be back in action, Feb. 18-20 when it heads to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the College Squash Association Team National Championships.