PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Junior captain Nouran Youssef (Smouha, Egypt) won the clinching match, 3-1, at the No. 3 spot in the lineup to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 6-3 victory over the University of Virginia Cavaliers in the semifinals of the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championship (Howe Cup) Tournament this afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania.  Trinity, seeded No. 1, improves to a perfect 18-0 and will face the No. 2-seeded Harvard University Crimson in the finals tomorrow at 1 p.m.  No. 5-seeded Virginia will play Princeton for third place tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

Trinity led, 2-1, early thanks to a pair of 3-1 wins by rookies Hannah Chukwu (Tatabanya, Hungary) and Kara Lincou (Le Tampon, Reunion).  Meagan Best blanked Trinity sophomore Jana Safy (Caito, Egypt) at the top of the ladder for the early Cavalier point.  At the No. 2 position on the ladder, Trinity sophomore Malak Moustafa (Alexandria, Egypt) won, 3-1, over Maria Moya and first-year Fabiola Cabello (Guadalajara, Mexico) outlasted Virginia's Eliza Mills, 3-2, at the bottom spot.

After a 3-2 victory by Virginia's Sydney Maxwell, who had been down 2-0 against Trinity sophomore Lulu Palacios (Asuncion, Paraguay), made the score 4-2, Youssef won her first two games against Lina Tammam but dropped the third, 11-6 only to take the fourth by the same score and clinch the match for the Bantams.  Sophomore Janna El Ashmawy (Alexandria, Egypt) needed five games to get past Maureen Foley and improve her career record as a Bantam to 29-0.  Trinity will be playing in its first Howe Cup Finals since 2019 tomorrow and the Bantams won the CSA National title in 2002, 2003, and 2014.

MATCH RESULTS
1. V- Meagan Best d. Jana Safy, 12-10, 11-5, 11-7
2. TC- Malak Moustafa d. Maria Moya, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9
3. TC- Nouran Youssef d. Lina Tammam, 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6
4. TC- Hannah Chukwu d. Emma Jinks, 11-2, 5-11, 11-5, 11-3
5. V- Olivia Walsh d. Madeleine Hylland, 9-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-3
6. V- Sydney Maxwell d. Lulu Palacios, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8
7. TC- Janna El Ashmawy d. Maureen Foley, 4-11, 11-6, 17-15, 7-11, 11-8
8. TC- Kara Lincou d. Nicolina Tessitore, 11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6
9. TC- Fabiola Cabello d. Eliza Mills, 10-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4
Trinity (Conn.) 6, Virginia 3