NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The Notre Dame men’s and women’s fencing team hit the road in the regular season for the final time this weekend as they head to the Duke Duals in Durham. The men’s squad is up first on Saturday as they are set to face five schools, including ACC foe Duke. The women compete on the final day of the weekend and will also square off against five teams throughout the day.
WHAT: Duke Duals
WHEN: Saturday, February 8 – Sunday, February 9
WHERE: Card Gym | Durham, NC
LINKS: Saturday Broadcast (ACCNX) | Sunday Broadcast (ACCNX)
DUKE DUALS
The Irish will be making the trip to Durham for the Duke Duals for the first time since 2016 after the 2018 trip was cancelled due to inclement weather. This will be the last tune-up for both Irish squads before the ACC Championships, which will be hosted at the Castellan Family Fencing Center on campus.
Both Irish squads will face off with ACC foe Duke for the first time this season. The men and women will also go up against two ranked teams during the competition. The fifth-ranked men are set to face No. 10 Duke and No. 4 Penn State while the third-ranked women are going up against No. 6 Penn State and No. 5 Temple.
Back in 2016, the women finished the weekend undefeated after compiling a 5-0 while the men finished the weekend with a 4-1 mark. The women knocked off two ranked teams on the day, No. 10 Temple (17-10) and No. 9 Penn State (16-11). The men picked up one ranked win after defeating No. 9 Penn State 16-11.
Notre Dame Match Schedule
Saturday – Men’s
8 a.m. – Brandeis
9:30 a.m. – No. 10 Duke
11 a.m. – MIT
1:30 p.m. – No. 4 Penn State
3 p.m. – Johns Hopkins
Sunday – Women’s
8 a.m. – Brandeis
9:30 a.m. – Duke
11 a.m. – MIT
1:30 p.m. – No. 6 Penn State
3 p.m. – No. 5 Temple
VIQUEIRA NAMED ACC WOMEN’S FENCER OF THE WEEK
For the third straight week, a Notre Dame student-athlete was named an ACC Fencer of the Week. Senior foilist Samantha Viqueira was named the women’s fencer of the week after compiling a 12-1 record at the Northwestern Duals. The Maplewood, New Jersey native led the foil squad with 12 wins on the day and helped defeat three ranked teams while the women finished 6-0. Viqueira went 8-1 combined in wins over No. 9 Northwestern (18-9), No. 5 Ohio State (17-10) and No. 1 Princeton (15-12).
LAST TIME OUT
The men’s and women’s team put together another undefeated weekend last time out at the Northwestern Duals. Facing some of the best teams in the country, the Irish finished the weekend with a combined 14-0 record.
The women’s squad put together an 8-0 day, including wins over three top-10 teams. They started the day with a convincing 18-9 win over No. 9 Northwestern and followed it up with wins over UC San Diego (19-8), Lawrence (26-1) and Air Force (24-3).
The women’s second ranked win of the day over No. 5 Ohio State 18-9 followed by strong wins over Stanford (20-7) and Incarnate Word (22-5). In their final match of the day, the women knocked off top-ranked Princeton 15-12 thanks to an 8-1 performance from the epee squad and a 6-3 mark from the foil team.
The women’s foil team had the top mark of the day after going a combined 60-12 through eight matches while the sabre squad went 56-16. The epee squad rounded the group out with a 45-27 record on the day.
The men’s team opened the duals with convincing wins over UC San Diego (17-10), Air Force (20-7) and Incarnate Word (21-6) while also taking down Stanford 16-11. The men picked up their ranked win of the day with a 15-12 win over No. 6 Princeton. In the final match of the day, the men finished the meet off with a 25-2 win over Lawrence.
The men’s sabre team had the best mark through six matches, going a combined 44-10. The epee squad finished 36-18 while the foil squad went 34-20.
—ND—