NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Mount Holyoke College squash team opened action at the 2016 CSA Women's Team Championships on Friday afternoon. Despite several hard-fought matches, the Lyons were unable to win their opening round match, falling to Connecticut College by a 6-3 margin. #29 MHC moves to 6-16 on the season, while the #28 Camels improve to 7-16.

Connecticut College moves on to Saturday's semifinals of the Epps Cup (D Division) where it will face #25 Dickinson at 5pm, while Mount Holyoke will take on #32 Haverford in the Epps Cup Consolation semifinals at 7pm. Both matches take place at Yale University.

The Camels opened the match with a victory at nine as Taylor McKee bested Tanishka Sachidanand, 3-0 (12-10, 11-8. 11-2). MHC's Lessly Portillo evened the score from the sixth position, recording a 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-8) win over CC's Anne Holly, but the tie was short-lived as Mawa Ballo defeated MHC's Allison Shilling at two, 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-4) to regain the lead.

Elizabeth Varoli made it a 3-1 lead for the Camels with an 11-8, 12-14, 11-3, 11-8 victory over the Lyons' Rose Minichiello at eight, but MHC's Brandy Williamson won from the top of the ladder, taking a 3-1 win (11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-3) against Ashley Arthur. Mount Holyoke would get its third point from the third position as Ragini Ghose defeated Aaliyah Davidson, 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11), but CC proved too strong down the stretch.

One of the hardest fought matches came from the fifth position as CC's Nina Nalle bested Emily Chang, 3-2 with a line score of 12-14, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9. MHC's Catherine Ryan also had a tough battle at four against Olivia Silverman, who was able to beat the Lyons captain 12-10, 16-14, 11-8.

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