Aug. 10, 2016

By Joanne Norell

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Three-time NCAA Women’s Foil Champion and incoming senior Lee Kiefer will begin her medal pursuit today in the women’s individual foil Round of 32, facing Lebanon’s Mona Shaito.

Kiefer, who is making her second Olympic appearance after placing fifth individually in 2012, enters the competition ranked third in the world. Her Round of 32 bout is scheduled to begin at 9:25 a.m. ET, followed by the Round of 16 at 10:25 a.m. ET and the quarterfinal at 11 a.m. ET (online streaming). The medal round will commence at 4:30 p.m. ET with the semifinal, followed by the gold medal bout (CNBC).

Natalie Achonwa and Team Canada return to women’s basketball stage play in Group B against Senegal at 4:45 p.m. ET (online streaming) Canada is 2-0 so far with a 90-68 win over China on Saturday and a 71-67 comeback win over Serbia on Monday. Achonwa has seven points in 17 minutes played through Canada’s first two games.

Achonwa is making her second straight Olympic appearance with Team Canada after competing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. An All-American and team captain during her Notre Dame career, Achonwa has helped guide Canada to a pair of gold medals at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.

Angie Akers (Netherlands, beach volleyball) and Monty Williams (United States, men’s basketball) will each return to preliminary action as assistant coaches for their respective sports. Akers and the Netherlands take on a team from Australia at 9 a.m. ET (online streaming), while Williams and Team USA also take on the Aussies at 6 p.m. ET (NBCSN).

Yesterday | August 9

–Melissa Tancredi provided all of Canada’s offensive firepower in the team’s first-ever win over Germany in 13 meetings, a 2-1 win to round out preliminary play in Group F. The Canadians finished atop the pool with a 3-0-0 record, having already clinched a spot in Friday’s quarterfinals (v. France at 9 p.m. ET) prior to Tuesday’s match.

The Germans struck first with a goal in the 13th minute, but Tancredi tallied the equalizer in the 26th with a kick to the corner past diving goalkeeper Almuth Schult. The game winner came in the 60th minute in the form of a header that slipped into the corner of the net. The goals were her 26th and 27th international scores, respectively.

–Angie Akers and the Netherlands beach volleyball duo of Sophie van Gestel and Jantine van der Vlist fell 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) to the German duo of Karla Borger and Britta Buthe in a preliminary match in Group E on Tuesday.

Today | August 10

–Lee Kiefer begins her 2016 Olympic Games in the women’s individual foil Round of 32 at 9:25 a.m. (online streaming). The medal rounds are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. (CNBC). Kiefer enters her second career Olympics after placing fifth in the individual foil in 2012.

–Natalie Achonwa and Team Canada look to improve to 3-0 in Group B play in the women’s basketball draw against Senegal at 4:45 p.m. (online streaming).

–Angie Akers and the Netherlands beach volleyball team of Marlene van Iersel and Madelein Meppelink face Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Louise Bawden at 9 a.m. (online streaming).

–Monty Williams and Team USA go for their third win of the men’s basketball preliminary round of Group A against Australia at 6 p.m. (NBCSN).

Tomorrow | August 11

-Sisters Courtney Hurley and Kelley Hurley return to action in the women’s epee team event. The tournament kicks off at 8 a.m. ET with the Round of 16 (online streaming), followed by the quarterfinals (9:45 a.m. ET, NBCSN), semifinal (1:30 p.m. ET, online streaming) and the medal round (5 p.m. ET, CNBC). Team USA took the bronze medal in the team event in 2012 in London.

-Angie Akers and the Netherlands beach volleyball team of Jantine van der Vlist and Sophie van Gestel square off against Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr in a preliminary match in Group E at 5:30 p.m. ET (online streaming).



Complete schedules for when the athletes with Notre Dame ties will be competing can be found at UND.com/Rio. Join the conversation on social media and support the Irish using #OlympicND.


Fans can also subscribe to the Irish in Rio calendar, which features detailed information about Notre Dame athletes, alumni and coaches as they compete in the upcoming Rio Olympic games. Subscribers will receive device alerts before each athlete competes, television information (if applicable) and a link to stream the competition from NBC’s Olympics website. This calendar is the best way to keep up with the Irish as they represent their countries and Notre Dame in Rio.

Fans can subscribe to the calendar with only a few clicks, and updated information will automatically be set to your device as it becomes available:

The networks and digital platforms of NBC will present an unprecedented amount of coverage, including the most live event coverage of any Olympic Games. All Olympic competition will be live streamed through NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.

–ND–

Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.