PRINCETON, N.J. - No. 8 Franklin & Marshall fell to top-ranked Trinity (Conn.) 8-1 in the opening round of the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships on Friday at Princeton. With the loss, the Diplomats (11-7) move into the consolation side of the Potter Cup (A Division) bracket, while the Bantams (17-1) advance to the national semifinals.

F&M will face off against No. 5 Rochester, which suffered a 6-3 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Harvard, in Saturday's consolation semifinals.

Guilherme de Melo notched the lone victory of the match for the Diplomats at the No. 2 position. Much like F&M's loss to the Bantams early this year - also an 8-1 decision - de Melo posted a four-game win over Antonio Diaz. This time around, the junior took down Diaz 11-7, 4-11, 11-3, 11-6 for his team-leading 16th victory of the season.

While F&M was only able to come away with one win, several of the matches resulted in close outcomes as the Diplomats gave the 13-time defending national champions a strong opening-round test.

At the No. 5 spot, Ryan Mullaney narrowly lost the first two games against Johan Detter, 11-9 and 13-11, but bounced back with a 12-0 triumph in game three to extend the match. However, Detter responded with an 11-5 game four victory to earn the win.

Brian Henry and Pat Cunningham also pushed their opponents to four games at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Henry fell to Matthew Mackin, 11-6, 11-6, 3-11, 11-3, while Cunningham was edged out by Moustafa Hamada, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4.

The Diplomats return to the court against Rochester in the consolation semifinals on Saturday at 3:00 pm.

#1 Trinity (Conn.) 8, #8 Franklin & Marshall 1