Two years ago, junior women’s squash player Malak Khafagy was finishing her first year at an engineering school in Egypt. Fast forward to today, and she has brought Penn its first College Squash Association National Team Championship in 26 years.
Khafagy’s first season at Penn was already a triumph, but somehow, she managed to get even better this year. At the top spot for Penn, she went 15-2 overall, a substantial contribution to the team’s 17-2 season.
One of Khafagy’s two losses of the season came during a Round of 16 upset at the CSA National Individual Championship. In response, she went on an undefeated streak over the next weeks of conference play, which lasted until the Ivy League Tournament.
The team’s only two losses on the season came against Princeton, where Khafagy saw a tough matchup with CSA Individual Championship winner Zeina Zein. Although Khafagy beat her in the regular season, Zein evened out their score in the Ivy League Tournament — sending Penn home in the finals.
The pair saw a third and final matchup in the final of the CSA National Team Championship. Here, Khafagy was out for revenge, beating Zein in four games and collecting an important point in the team’s 5-4 victory that brought the Howe Cup to University City for the first time in 26 years.
In her second year at Penn, Khafagy again collected many honors, being named Ivy League Player of the Year and receiving first team All-Ivy and first team CSA All-America selections.
Honorable mentions: senior sprinter Moforehan Abinusawa (women’s track and field); junior Jordan Barrow (gymnastics)
Check out the rest of the end-of-year awards for the 2025-26 season here.
