Saturday, January 25
New York, N.Y.
Princeton University
vs
CSA Individual Championships
Zeina Zein with head coach Gail Ramsay and the 2025 CSA championship trophy.
Photo by: Princeton Athletic Communications
Zein Sweeps Way to CSA National Championship
January 28, 2025 | Women's Squash
Five times in the first game on Tuesday afternoon at Grand Central Station in New York, Zeina Zein was on the brink of defeat in the first game and fended it off. Three more times after that in the opening game, Zein saw opponent Riya Navani of Stanford do the same, staying alive.
But once Zein found the clincher to take the first game 16-14, Zein followed the same pattern that got her to the final in the station's Vanderbilt Hall, going five for five with sweeps to win the title and capping it with a 16-14, 11-4, 11-8 win over Navani to bring home Princeton's 12th College Squash Association national championship and first since 2001.
Zein joins Julia Beaver (1999, 2000, 2001), Katherine Johnson (1997), Demer Holleran (1986, 1987, 1989), Nancy Gengler (1976) and Wendy Zaharko (1972, 1974, 1975) as Princetonians to take the CSA national title.
In Tuesday's first game, Zein trailed Navani 10-6 before winning five straight points to get it back to even at 10-10. At 12-11, Zein had her first lead of the match since 1-0, but Navani fought back there and down 13-12 and 14-13 before Zein won back-to-back points to win 16-14.
Zein only briefly trailed from there. Once she got out to a 5-1 lead in game two, Zein's lead was never smaller than three points on the way to an 11-4 win. In game three, after Zein got out to a 3-1 lead, Navani led by as many as two points at 5-3 and 6-4, but Zein won four straight points to take an 8-6 lead and score three of the next five points to win.
The win comes a year after Zein, a sophomore, made the CSA semifinals in 2024, becoming the program's first semifinalist since 2015. Zein's rookie CSA run ended in a five-set loss to Harvard's Saran Nghiem, who went on to win the 2024 title and who Zein swept in the quarterfinals this year.
With the CSA individual competition in the books, Zein and the Tigers have all their team goals left to pursue, with a 7-0 overall record and a perfect 3-0 in the Ivy League. They'll be able to go after two more Ivy wins this weekend, heading to Dartmouth on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday, the latter of which will see the nation's No. 1-ranked team host the No. 2 Tigers.
Draws are available here.
Final
Zeina Zein (Princeton) def. Riya Navani (Stanford), 3-0 (16-14, 11-4, 11-8)
But once Zein found the clincher to take the first game 16-14, Zein followed the same pattern that got her to the final in the station's Vanderbilt Hall, going five for five with sweeps to win the title and capping it with a 16-14, 11-4, 11-8 win over Navani to bring home Princeton's 12th College Squash Association national championship and first since 2001.
Zein joins Julia Beaver (1999, 2000, 2001), Katherine Johnson (1997), Demer Holleran (1986, 1987, 1989), Nancy Gengler (1976) and Wendy Zaharko (1972, 1974, 1975) as Princetonians to take the CSA national title.
In Tuesday's first game, Zein trailed Navani 10-6 before winning five straight points to get it back to even at 10-10. At 12-11, Zein had her first lead of the match since 1-0, but Navani fought back there and down 13-12 and 14-13 before Zein won back-to-back points to win 16-14.
Zein only briefly trailed from there. Once she got out to a 5-1 lead in game two, Zein's lead was never smaller than three points on the way to an 11-4 win. In game three, after Zein got out to a 3-1 lead, Navani led by as many as two points at 5-3 and 6-4, but Zein won four straight points to take an 8-6 lead and score three of the next five points to win.
The win comes a year after Zein, a sophomore, made the CSA semifinals in 2024, becoming the program's first semifinalist since 2015. Zein's rookie CSA run ended in a five-set loss to Harvard's Saran Nghiem, who went on to win the 2024 title and who Zein swept in the quarterfinals this year.
With the CSA individual competition in the books, Zein and the Tigers have all their team goals left to pursue, with a 7-0 overall record and a perfect 3-0 in the Ivy League. They'll be able to go after two more Ivy wins this weekend, heading to Dartmouth on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday, the latter of which will see the nation's No. 1-ranked team host the No. 2 Tigers.
Draws are available here.
Final
Zeina Zein (Princeton) def. Riya Navani (Stanford), 3-0 (16-14, 11-4, 11-8)
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Squash
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