PHILADELPHIA — The Columbia men's and women's squash teams each fell to Drexel on Friday. The eighth-ranked women came a point away from upsetting the third-ranked Dragons, 5-4, while the ninth-ranked men were dealt a 9-0 loss to No. 7 Drexel.
 
On the women's side, Columbia got a boost from Simmi Chan and Farida Mohamed at the top of the lineup. Chan swept Alina Bushma in the No. 1 match, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4, to improve to 2-0 on the year. Mohamed, who was playing in her first collegiate match of the season, took down Karina Tyma in a hard-fought five-game match, 11-9, 8-11. 6-11, 12-10, 11-8.
 
Chan's victory brought the team score to 4-4. It all came down to the No. 6 match between Drexel's Moa Bonnemark and Columbia's Elizabeth Lentz. After splitting the first two games, Lentz won game three, 11-9, to take the lead into the fourth game. Bonnemark pulled out a close, 11-7, decision in the fourth and rallied to defeat Lentz, 11-5, in the fifth to win it for the Dragons.
 
"It was neck-and-neck the whole way and neither team could really get any breathing room," Director of Squash Chris Sachvie said. "Some of those matches on both sides could have flipped. I thought we had some pretty strong performances all throughout the lineup. We're seeing improvement and that was definitely a positive. Drexel is a tough team, especially at home. We hope to see them again at nationals and get a chance to reverse it."
 
Also taking victories for the Lions were Aleeza Khan and Kiro Manoharan. Khan earned her first collegiate win in four games, defeating Maureen Foley in the No. 7 match, which included a thrilling 14-12 result to take momentum in game three. Manoharan moved into the top nine for the first time and improved to 2-0 on the year.
 
Despite not taking any of the team points, the men's contest featured a lot of closely contested games and matches. Three Lions were defeated in five games. Adam Goad was forced to retire in the fifth of an intense match at No. 3 due to injury. Zach Nam's opponent, Jose Lopez, came back from 2-1 down to win games four and five and defeat Nam at No. 5. Sameer Saxena rallied from two games down to tie up his match at No. 9 and force a fifth game. Two of Franklyn Smith's matches at No. 2 were decided by scores of 12-10, while Jacob Bulbulia dropped games of 13-11 and 12-10 at No. 7.
 
"Obviously, each individual match felt close. Unfortunately, we never gave ourselves a shot in the team match because we just couldn't pull any of them out," Sachvie said. "Overall, we're in every match. We have the ability to compete at that level.
 
"All three guys that brought their matches to five games played and had a chance. Those three performances were probably some of the stronger ones on the day. I also thought Harold Castiaux on No. 1 played really well against one of the best players in college squash."
 
The men's and women's squash teams will look to bounce back at home next Friday night against Williams College. The matches get underway from StreetSquash in Harlem at 6 p.m. ET.

For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on Twitter and Instagram (@CULionsSquash), on Facebook (Facebook.com/ColumbiaSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.