PRINCETON, N.J. – The Mount Holyoke College squash team opened play at the CSA National Championships on Friday, hosted at Princeton University. Despite several strong victories, the Lyons fell to Franklin and Marshall by a score of 6-3 in the opening round of the Walker Cup (C Draw). #23 MHC is now 9-11 overall and advances to the consolation round. The #18 Diplomats improved to 8-11 and move into the semifinals.

Mount Holyoke will face Wellesley College at 11:30am on Saturday. The #22 Blue are coming off a 7-2 loss to #19 St. Lawrence.  Franklin & Marshall will face the Saints at 9am, also on Saturday.

Against the Diplomats, the Lyons faced a 3-0 deficit until junior Samantha Rosado posted a 3-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-7, 13-11) victory over Cris Margaret Frias in the third position. Sophomore Sherouk Khefagy cut the margin further, following with a win from the second spot over Roxana Mead, 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-6).

MHC suffered losses at the eighth and seventh, and looked to the final spots to help get back into the game. Senior Katrina Intal shouldered a tough 3-1 (9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5) loss to Katherine Perry from the four spot and despite a victory from senior captain Randima Ranaweera, who defeated Emily Caldwell, 3-1 (11-3, 12-10, 3-11, 12-10) at the top of the ladder, the Lyons could not make up the difference.