NEW YORK--Sophomore Diana Edge plays in the number one position for the nationally-ranked number one Harvard women's squash team. For variety, she sometimes competes in tournaments against men.

This past weekend, Edge competed in the John Jacobs Invitational Tournament at the Harvard Club of New York. Though she lost in straight games in an early round, she proved that she is at the competitive level of some of the lower-ranked male amateurs in the country.

The Ottawa native competed in the top-ranked position for the National Canadian Women's Squash Team in the World Championships at Australia in 1983. Last August she played in the third-ranked position, contributing to the Canadians' best-ever finish of fifth place at the World Championships held at Dublin.

After playing tennis for three years, Edge picked up squash at age 12. Two years later, she decided to concentrate solely on squash and began to participate in amateur tournaments. At 17, Edge was ranked simultaneously as both the number-one amateur female and the 15th-ranked amateur player in the men's draw in Ottawa.

Edge stresses that her situation is not unusual in the sport of squash and points out that "the nature of the game" lends itself to competition between men and women at any level of play. Ingrid Boyum, the number two player on the women's team, also competes against men.

According to Edge, such factors as the smaller boundaries of the squash court make it possible for a less talented player to compete against a more skilled player. Especially in junior-level play, the difference of strength between males and females is not as evident than it is in other sports like tennis, Edge explains.

Most important, Edge stresses that women squash players are "lucky" because they have the opportunity to increase the variety of their competition when they reach a certain level of play. Edge does not compete with men only because she has reached a specific level of proficiency, but because it is a challenge that any female at any level can have.

Priss Choate, the women's squash coach, feels that Edge has not yet "reached her full potential. It helps [Diana] to play against men because they can push her," Choate said.

Competing against men, Edge states simply, is just one way for her to "improve" her game.