Take the top 20 women's amateur squash players in the U.S. and Canada, invite them to the Princeton Invitational, and you'll find superb handy-eye coordination skills, incredible agility, amazing on-court intelligence and awesome athletic ability.

You'll also find four Harvard players. (For all of us QRR incompetents, that's 1/5th, a quarter, 20 percent.)

Last weekend, Princeton hosted this gala of early season hardball squash. Seniors Vanya Desai, Carrie Cunningham and Kathy Shergalis and sophomore Libby Eynon represented the Harvard women's squash team at the individual tourney.

Although promising freshman Erin Dockery was invited to compete, she was forced to withdraw due to a hand injury.

Desai, who was the top seed at the tournament, reached the semifinals before being halted, 3-1, by eventual winner Margo Green of Franklin and Marshall.

Harvard Assistant Coach Chris Brownell said that although Desai placed third in the tournament and displayed a strong showing, she was at a disadvantage even before she stepped on the court.

"We've been playing softball all fall, and only started practicing hardball last week," Brownell said.

As a result, Crimson players "hit a lot of tins and had a little trouble with shot execution," Brownell said. "Had we been practicing hardball longer, we probably would have done better."

Sophomore Libby Eynon, who was seeded third in the tournament, placed fourth, after she lost, 3-0, to Vassar's Sherean Kaufman.

Eynon and Desai faced each other in the consolation rounds where Desai secured third place by beating her younger teammate, 3-0.

"I felt like I played better each match," Eynon said. "We all had a pretty good showing."

Co-Captain Carrie Cunningham cruised through her first match, 3-0, but fell to Kaufman in the quarterfinals, 3-1.

"I wasn't disappointed at all," Cunningham said of her play. "It was a very good, close match."

Co-Captain Kathy Shergalis won a round of consolations, 3-1, and "played well, even though she didn't come into the tournament with really high expectations," said Brownell.

Last year, Kaufman was locked in a heated rivalry with junior Jordanna Fraiberg, who won the Intercollegiate title and was the 1992 Ivy Player of the Year.

Fraiberg is currently in India, but "will be back for the brunt of the season," said Brownell.

As for the remainder of the season, this year's squad holds so much promise "it's absurd. I've never seen a team this good in my entire life," Cunningham said. Last weekend at Brown, the Crimson proved its potential for dominance in the Ancient Eight. Harvard easily defeated Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale and Pennsylvania to win the competition.