GRAND CENTRAL, N.Y. — After a grueling five rounds and 15 games across four days, sophomore Zeina Zein has been crowned as the best collegiate women’s squash player in the country, emerging victorious at the College Squash Association (CSA) national championship on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m very happy to be able to win the title and clinch the trophy. It’s been a really tough tournament,” Zein said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “I had no expectations, so of course winning this tournament was something huge. I’m overwhelmed with a lot of emotions.”
Zein, who hails from Alexandria, Egypt, did not just win all five rounds — she swept all five of her opponents 3–0 in an impressive showcase of her talent and hard work. In her road to the final, not one opponent forced her past the standard 11 points, and only one, Stanford’s Marianna Dardon, came even close with one 11–9 game in the round of 16.
“She’s an amazing squash player. She’s also just an amazing teammate. She’s so talented and works incredibly hard,” senior and women’s squash captain Josephine Klein told the ‘Prince.’ “I don’t think any of us were surprised. We know how amazing a player Zeina is, and it’s just really awesome to see her hard work pay off.”
Zein is just the sixth Princetonian to bring home the women’s squash national title, with her win being the twelfth in all of program history and the first in 24 years since Julia Beaver ’01 won her third straight Ramsay Cup in 2001.
“Zeina was magnificent all weekend, and it means a lot to the program, bringing [the title] back to Princeton with a really, really dominant number one,” women’s squash Head Coach Gail Ramsay said to the ‘Prince.’
In the quarter-finals, Zein defeated Harvard’s Saran Nghiem, the reigning national champion. Zein had narrowly lost to Nghiem in the 2024 semi-finals during her Ivy League Rookie of the Year season, three matches to two. This time around, she dominated Nghiem, winning three games in a row, 11–2, 11–4, 11–4.
“She was on the verge of winning last year, but, I think, a year under her belt and her maturity has really helped her through this event and hopefully through the rest of this season,” explained Ramsay.
“I saw her the day she moved in for international orientation,” Klein reflected. “I watched her grow as a squash player, as a student at Princeton — she’s just such an amazing person and she deserves this and so much more.”
After a brutal three days of squash, Zein faced off against Stanford’s Riya Navani on Tuesday for the national title. In the first game, she trailed every point after the opening play until she was down 10–6, needing four straight points to not lose.
“I had a slow start, so it took me a while to get into the game,” Zein commented. “Even if I’m going to lose the game, I just try to make it as long as possible, and I think it paid off. I just try to be mentally tough, and of course winning the first game is really, really important, especially when it’s the final.”
In a determined showcase of support, Zein’s teammates scrambled to get to the championship game in the middle of a class day.
“I was on the train with my teammates coming to New York and the train got stuck, and so we were running from Penn Station to Grand Central during the first game, watching on our phones,” Klein said. “Zeina is just really tough on the court, and she’s also tough mentally, so it didn’t surprise me that she was able to come back. She had four game balls against her. That’s just who Zeina is.”
“All of them had an amazing impact on me, always believed in me, supported me,” Zein said of her teammates, also thanking her coaches and her family.
Zein fought all the way back to a 12–11 lead, her first since the opening point, but Navani herself did not back down. The game turned out to be Zein’s longest in the tournament by far, ending in a crucial 16–14 victory that propelled her game going forward.
“Winning the first game just gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the match,” Zeina added.
Indeed, she played her best squash in the next game, dominating Navani in an 11–4 win for a 2–0 lead. Navani fought hard in the third game to challenge, but Zein fought harder, winning her final game of the day 11–8 to complete the tournament sweep.
Zein’s title comes in the middle of a strong start for the No. 1 women’s squash team (7–0 overall, 3–0 Ivy League), the momentum from which they hope can carry them to a national title. Last year, they lost the CSA national team championship final to the Trinity Bantams (7–1 overall, 4–0 New England Small College). They have already claimed revenge over Trinity this year with a 5–4 win at home and will have another rematch against No. 3 Harvard (7–1 overall, 4–0 Ivy League) this weekend.
“We have a really, really important match coming up when we play Dartmouth and Harvard,” Zein explained. “We lost to Harvard last year 5–4 so they were able to take the Ivy title from us.”
“I just want to keep the momentum going, the positive mindset, try to clinch the wins this weekend, try to look for the Ivy title and for the national team title as well,” she continued.
Zein’s dedication undeniably showed at the tournament, and her teammates hope it will continue to radiate throughout the team.
“She brings a positive mindset and an unmatched work ethic to practice every single day — her energy isn’t just inspiring, it’s been contagious for the entire team this season,” senior and women’s squash captain Katherine Sapinski wrote to the ‘Prince.’
“But what truly sets her apart is her selflessness and humility. She’s not just an incredibly talented player; she lifts up everyone around her, always putting the team first and leading by example. Simply put, we love Zeina for so many reasons, and no one deserves the CSA national title more than her. We couldn’t be more proud.”
Bryant Figueroa is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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