CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Powered by a number of hard-fought performances, the Mount Holyoke College squash team posted an 8-1 victory over Georgetown University in the opening round of action at the 2015 CSA National Team Championships on Friday. With the win, the #28 Lyons improve to 7-15 on the season.

MHC, which is playing the Epps Division at this year's championship, advance to Saturday's semifinals. There it will face #25 William Smith in a 3:30pm match on courts 7,8 and 9 at Harvard University. This will be the second meeting of the season between the Lyons and the Herons, who squared off against one another on November 15, 2014 at the Wesleyan Round Robin. William Smith claimed victory in that match.

In the win over the Hoyas, Mount Holyoke saw sophomore Sanjna Merchant and junior Catherine Ryan cruise to 3-0 victories in the third and sixth positions, respectively. Merchant defeated sophomore Olivia Colburn (11-4,11-3,11-5), while Ryan posted a win against senior Katia DaSilva (11-7,11-8,11-4).

Gritty performances soon followed as senior Samantha Rosado gutted out the win in the second position, defeating first year Grace Alburger 3-0 (11-6,11-5,11-4), while sophomore Allison Shilling took down Hoyas' sophomore Elizabeth Scattergood, 3-1 (11-3,9-11,11-9,11-8).

MHC junior Anna Hartman also picked up a strong win in the eighth position, recording a victory over sophomore Alexis Gulino 3-1 (11-6,12-10,9-11,11-7). Lyons' first years Brandy Williamson and Emily Chang won their respective matches at the first (11-5,11-5,11-2) and seventh (11-6,12-10,11-7) positions, respectively, while senior Xianger Fei was also victorious for MHC in the fifth flight (11-0,11-4,11-6).

Sophomore Amanda Lee shouldered the Lyons' lone loss, suffering a 3-2 (9-11,11-7,10-12,11-9,12-10) defeat in the ninth position.

Championship brackets and results for this weekend's action can be found HERE.