Feb. 8, 2007

The Notre Dame fencing teams have left on their biennial trip to Durham, N.C., for the Duke Duals, to be held Feb. 9-10, at the Duke Fieldhouse. The 5th-ranked Irish men’s team (14-4) is slated to fence on Friday, with the 4th-ranked women (5-2) in action the following day. The field for the meet includes the host Blue Devils (11th at the 2006 NCAAs), as well as Air Force (15th), North Carolina (19th) and Johns Hopkins.

Friday’s action will feature the men’s bouts, with Notre Dame to open the day versus UNC (9:00 a.m.) and Duke (10:00) before fencing JHU (11:00) and then having a bye round before closing versus the 9th-ranked Air Force men’s team. The women will fence in the same order on Sunday, starting at 9:00 with no bye round.

Over the past five trips to the Duke Duals (starting in 1997), the Irish men hold an unblemished 24-0 record while the women’s 22-2 mark over the same period includes a 15-17 defeat in 1999 over 7th-ranked Ohio State and a 10-17 loss to 3rd-ranked Stanford in 2001. The Irish women have won 11 straight matches at the Duke Duals, since the loss to the Cardinal six years ago.

With three wins on Saturday, senior sabreist and three-time All-American Valerie Providenza will pass former teammate Destanie Milo (who compiled a 166-36 mark from 2001-04) for first on the Notre Dame list for career women’s sabre wins (in regular-season bouts).

Notre Dame will be without the services of senior sabreist and two-time NCAA runner-up Patrick Ghattas and freshman epeeist Kelley Hurley, who will be competing at World Cup events (respectively in Budapest and Rome). Providenza just returned from Europe, after placing 16th in London World Cup event (Feb. 2-4). She rallied to beat her Oregon Fencing Alliance club teammate (and ND signee) Sarah Borrmann in an early direct-elimination bout before ultimately losing to the eventual bronze medalist. Eileen Hassett – another Notre Dame signee and OFA product – suffered a tough round-of-64 loss to former Ohio State standout Louise-Bond Williams (11-15) while two other OFA fencers battle in the gold-medal bouth, with Mariel Zagunis topping Becca Ward. Zagunis currently is taking a three-semester leave of absence from college fencing, in order to focus on Olympic qualifying (she would retrn to Notre Dame for his final year of eligibility in 2008-09).

In other recent international sabre events, Ghattas competed at the World Cup in Instanbul, Turkey (Jan. 20-21), plus top results that included ND signee Barron Nydam palcing 13th at the Junior World Cup on Montreal (Jan. 21) and fellow signee Avery Zuck finishing 6th at the Junior World Cup in Budapest (Jan. 7, with Hassett placing 30th in the women’s bouts at that event). Zagunis is remaining in Europe this week to fence in the Tournament BNP Orleans, which will feature a strong international field. The finals of that event will be broadcast in France, with 3,000 spectators expected to be in attendance.

DUKE DUALS PREVIEW – Here’s a look at some of the top opponents (all are former NCAA participants) who Notre Dame is expected to fence over the two-day meet, along with their previous NCAA finishes and history against current Irish fencers.

MEN’S EPEE

Mike Burkhart (North Carolina; 21st at the ’06 NCAAs) – 3-1 against the Irish with a pair of losses to sophomore epeeist Karol Kostka (2-5 at the ’05 Northwestern Duals, 1-5 at the ’06 NCAAs) and a split against senior Aaron Adjemian (5-4 win, ’06 NCAAs; 1-5 loss, ’05 NW Duals).

Jason Stockdale (Air Force; 11th at ’04 NCAAs, 13th/’05, 8th/’06) – 4-2 against Notre Dame with a 3-1 mark against Adjemian (wins are 5-3, ’05 Duke Duals; 5-2, ’05 NCAAs; 5-3, ’06 NCAAs; lost 3-5, ’04 ND Duals), a win over Kostka (5-2, ’06 NCAAs) and a loss to junior epee captain Greg Howard (4-5, ’05 Duke Duals).

Dan Zielinski (Johns Hopkins; 22nd/’06) – is 1-4 against the Irish with a win over Kostka (5-3, ’06 NCAAs), but a pair of losses to Adjemian (2-5, ’05 NW Duals; 3-5, ’06 NCAAs), and one defeat each to Howard (3-5, ’05 NW Duals) and Kostka (0-5, ’05 NW Duals).

MEN’S FOIL

Ben Hendricks (Duke; 15th/’04) – has split against senior Frank Bontempo, winning 5-3 at the ’04 ND Duals but losing to Bontempo (2-5) at the ’04 NCAAs.

Nick Marchuk (JHU; 24th/2005) – holds a 2-5 record with one win each at the ’05 Northwestern Duals over sophomores Alexander Grigorenko (5-2) and Mark Kubik (5-4); has three losses to junior Jakub Jedrkowiak (2-5, ’05 Duke; 3-5, ’05 NCAAs; 1-5, ’05 NW) and a pair of defeats to Bontempo (4-5, ’03 Duke; 2-5, ’05 Duke).

Jackson McClam (Duke; 21st/2005) – is 1-5 against Notre Dame with his lone win over Jedrkowiak (5-4) at the ’05 NCAAs; has lost twice each to Jedrkowiak (3-5, ’05 Duke; 2-5, ’06 ND) and Bontempo (4-5, ’05 Duke; 1-5, ’06 ND) and once to Bontempo (4-5, ’06 ND).

MEN’S SABRE

C.J. Baran (AFA; 23rd/2006) – 1-4 against Notre Dame with a split against senior Matt Stearns (5-3 win at the ’06 UCSD Duals; 1-5 loss, ’06 NCAAs), two losses to Ghattas (2-5, ’06 UCSD; 0-5, ’06 NCAAs) and one loss to sophomore Bill Thanhouser (1-5, ’06 UCSD).

Will Randolph (UNC; 22nd/’06) – holds one win over junior Tom Horton (5-2, ’05 NW) but two losses at the ’05 NW Duals (1-5 each to Ghattas and Thanhouser) and a pair of losses at the ’06 NCAAs (3-6 to Ghattas, 1-5 to Stearns).

Peter Truszkowski (Duke; 10th/’06) – the ’06 All-American has beaten Stearns (5-4, ’06 ND) but has lost twice to Ghattas (1-5, ’06 ND; 3-5, ’06 NCAAs) and once to Stearns (4-5, ’06 NCAAs).

Robert Ziechmann (UNC; 21st/2006) – has one win over Stearns (5-4, ’05 NW) but one loss each to the trio of Stearns (1-5, ’06 NCAAs), Ghattas (1-5; ’06 NCAAs) and Thanhouser (4-5; ’05 NW).

WOMEN’S EPEE

Eliza Enyart (AFA; 18th/’05, 11th/’06) – owns a 2-2 mark with a loss to sophomore Kimberlee Montoya (1-5, ’06 UCSD) and a 2-1 record against senior epee captain Amy Orlando (4-3 win, ’06 UCSD; 5-3 win, ’06 NCAAs; 4-5 loss, ’05 NCAAs).

Anne Kercsmar (Duke’ 3rd/’04, 16th/’05, 16th/’06) – has lost to Orlando all five times during their collegiate bouts (4-5, ’04 ND; 3-5, ’04 NCAAs; 2-5, ’05 NCAAs; 1-5, ’06 ND; 2-3, ’06 NCAAs).

Courtney Krolikowski (UNC; 23rd/’04, 21st/’05) – has three losses, all to Orlando (0-5, ’04 NCAAs; 2-5, ’05 NCAAs; 1-5, ’05 NW).

WOMEN’S FOIL

Marilyn Tycer (Duke; 24th/’06) – holds a 3-4 mark against Notre Dame with one win each over the trio of junior co-captain Rachel Cota (5-1, ’05 Duke), junior Melanie Bautista (5-4, ’06 ND) and sophomore Emilie Prot (5-2, ’06 ND), and two losses each to Bautista (3-5, ’05 Duke; 2-5, ’06 NCAAs) and sophomore co-captain Adrienne Nott (1-5, ’06 ND; 0-5, ’06 NCAAs).

WOMEN’S SABRE

Allison Schafer (Duke; 17th/’05, 19th/’06) – has fenced five times against Providenza with two wins (5-3, ’04 ND; 5-4, ’06 ND) and three losses (3-5, ’05 Duke; 2-5, ’05 NCAAs; 1-5, ’06 NCAAs); also has one win over sophomore Ashley Serrette (5-4, ’06 ND).