SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame fencing program won seven of the eight Atlantic Coast Conference 2024 Fencing Awards, which were announced Thursday following a vote of the league’s head coaches. The Fighting Irish finished as the NCAA runner-up this season.
A Notre Dame fencer earned ACC season honors in each category on both the men’s and women’s sides. There was a tie in the voting in women’s foil, with Duke’s Christina Ferrari and Notre Dame’s Rebeca Candescu sharing the award.
On the women’s side, Notre Dame’s Amanda Pirkowski (epee) and Atara Greenbaum (sabre) joined Candescu as the league’s Fencer of the Year honorees. Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle (epee), Marcello Olivares (foil) and Luke Linder (sabre) won the men’s Fencer of the Year honors, with Olivares and Linder repeating as ACC Fencer of the Year honorees.
Fighting Irish head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia shared ACC Women’s Coach of the Year honors with first-year Duke head coach Omar Elgeziry. North Carolina’s Matt Jednak was named ACC Men’s Coach of the Year.
Pirkowski took fourth place at the 2024 ACC Championships and won a key bout in the tie-breaking fence-off to help Notre Dame earn the team championship. She was 28-15 (.651) in intercollegiate competition during the regular season and 11-2 in the round robin at the ACC Championships.
Candescu tied for the bronze medal in women’s foil at the NCAA Championships, going 15-8 during the round robin of the tournament. She went 35-6 (.854) in intercollegiate competition during the regular season and finished No. 5 in the nation in SPI.
Greenbaum was the ACC champion in women’s sabre and earned a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, where she brought home second-team All-America honors. She went 14-9 in round-robin action at NCAAs. Greenbaum was 29-8 (.784) in intercollegiate competition during the regular season and went 14-1 in the round robin at the ACC Championships. She was ranked fifth nationally in SPI.
Hamilton-Meikle was the ACC runner-up in men’s epee before having a big NCAA Championships, where he earned the silver medal and First Team All-America honors. He went 29-11 (.725) in intercollegiate competition during the regular season and was 16-7 in round-robin action at NCAAs. He finished as the No. 10-ranked fencer in SPI.
Named ACC Fencer of the Year in men’s foil for the second straight year, Olivares was a second-team All-American after recording a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He posted a 14-9 record in round-robin action at the NCAA Championships and a 27-6 (.818) mark in intercollegiate competition and was ranked No. 16 nationally in SPI.
Linder was named the ACC’s Fencer of the Year in men’s sabre for the second straight season. He won his second straight NCAA championship in men’s sabre and his third in four seasons. Linder also won the ACC championship in sabre for the second straight season. He was 40-9 (.833) in intercollegiate competition during the regular season and then was 11-3 in round-robin competition at the ACC Championships and 22-1 in the NCAA round robin. Linder was No. 1 nationally in the final SPI.
Kvaratskhelia was voted ACC Women’s Coach of the Year for the seventh time. The Fighting Irish captured the ACC championship this season, earning their eighth title in the last 10 years.
2024 ACC Fencers of the Year
Men’s Epee: Jonathan Hamilton-Meikle, Notre Dame
Men’s Foil: Marcello Olivares, Notre Dame
Men’s Sabre: Luke Linder, Notre Dame
Women’s Epee: Amanda Pirkowski, Notre Dame
Co-Women’s Foil: Christina Ferrari, Duke; Rebeca Candescu, Notre Dame
Women’s Sabre: Atara Greenbaum, Notre Dame
Men’s Coach of the Year: Matt Jednak, North Carolina
Women’s Co-Coach of the Year: Omar Elgeziry, Duke; Gia Kvaratskhelia, Notre Dame