HARTFORD, Conn. — The Columbia men's and women's squash teams played competitive matches with Trinity College on Sunday but were ultimately defeated. The No. 9 Columbia men fell, 7-2, while the No. 8 Columbia women rallied late to fall to the top-ranked Bantams, 6-3.
 
Four of the top-nine scoring matches were decided in five games on the men's side. The Lions took two of those decisions, as Zach Nam outlasted Ahmed Ismail in the No. 4 match, 12-10, 5-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8. Down at No. 9, Ryan Chen pulled out the fifth to defeat Advait Adik, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11.
 
Sixth-ranked Trinity took the other two five-game matches and earned victories in each of the top three duals to claim the contest. Adam Goad was able to extend his matchup to four games. Franklyn Smith and Jacob Bulbulia fell in narrow five-game decisions.
 
"Overall, really good team performance. One of the goals we set out was to win the effort battle," Kenneth W. Torrey Director of Squash Chris Sachvie said. "Today, it was a really positive outcome in that sense. We were the underdogs and we played very tough and pretty well across the board.
 
"Trinity has a couple of unique show courts that the top three players have to play in. Visually, that's different from what we are used to. Their top three men are very high-quality players and they used the home-court advantage to the fullest."
 
On the women's side, the Lions went toe-to-toe with No. 1 Trinity. Despite the team result being decided after the opening two waves, Simmi Chan (2), Erica McGillicuddy (4) and Kiro Manoharan (7) swept the final wave to leave Columbia's stamp on the afternoon. McGillicuddy and Manoharan each won in five, including a comeback from 2-1 down by Manoharan to defeat Kara Lincou, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7. McGillicuddy pulled out her fifth game, 11-9.
 
"Some really good performances and obviously Trinity is the No. 1 team in the country," Sachvie added. "We see a path to winning that team match, which gives us some confidence moving forward. It showed that there is nobody in college squash that is unbeatable for us. We still have to get better because we are still losing some of these tight battles. We're getting ready for any rematches we may get at Nationals against these teams we have lost by small margins."
 
Simmi Chan remained perfect on the season, upping her dual record to 6-0. She took care of Nouran Youssef, 11-9, 14-12, 11-9.
 
"She's a rock star. Finding ways to overcome some of those challenges, a unique court and tricky opponent. It's never easy to play a tough team on the road but she's really good at being able to block out the things she can't control and get down to business."
 
The Bantams were able to win at Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9. Jana Safy dealt Farida Mohamed her first loss of the season in the No. 1 match, 11-9, 11-0, 5-11, 11-9.
 
The Lions come home for two matches next weekend, hosting Dartmouth on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday. The matches are scheduled to begin at noon Eastern from the SL Green Streetsquash Center.
 
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.