NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The top-ranked Notre Dame women’s fencing team and second-ranked men’s fencing team are back in action this weekend as they make the short trip north to Evanston for the Northwestern Duals. This will be the second weekend in a row that the women’s team will square off against the Wildcats, after defeating them 14-13 this past weekend at the DeCicco Duals.
WHAT: Northwestern Duals
WHEN: Saturday, February 1
WHERE: Ryan Fieldhouse | Evanston, IL
LINKS: @NDFencing
NORTHWESTERN DUALS
The Irish women’s team is set to face eight opponents over the course of the day while the men’s team is slated to face six teams.
The men are facing one ranked opponent, No. 6 Princeton, in round 8 while the women are set to face two, No. 9 Northwestern and No. 5 Ohio State.
Last season at the Northwestern Duals, the women’s team went a perfect 8-0, including five wins over top-10 teams. The men’s team won three of their seven matchups on the day.
Notre Dame Match Schedule
Men’s
11:20 a.m. – UCSD
12:30 p.m. – Air Force
3:20 p.m. – Stanford
4:40 p.m. – Incarnate Word
5:50 p.m. – No. 6 Princeton
7 p.m. – Lawrence
Women’s
9 a.m. – No. 9 Northwestern
10:10 a.m. – UCSD
11:20 a.m. – Lawrence
12:30 p.m. – Air Force
2:10 p.m. – No. 5 Ohio State
3:20 p.m. – Stanford
4:40 p.m. – Incarnate Word
5:50 p.m. – Princeton
MURRAY & O’BRIEN NAMED ACC FENCERS OF THE WEEK
University of Notre Dame student-athletes Thomas Murray and Regina O’Brien were both named ACC Fencers of the Week after strong performances at the DeCicco Duals this past weekend.
O’Brien, a senior sabreur from Wellesley, Massachusetts, compiled a perfect 18-0 record throughout the first day of DeCicco on Saturday and helped the women’s sabre squad tally a 61-2 record through seven matches.
Murray, a junior foilist from Staten Island, New York, went 24-2 over the course of the weekend and appeared in 11 matches for the Irish. He went 14-2 and fenced in every match on day one and then finished the weekend with a 10-0 record on day two.
LAST TIME OUT
The Irish hosted the annual DeCicco Duals last weekend and made quick work of the competition. Both the men’s and women’s squad went undefeated on each day and finished the weekend with 14-0 records. Both teams had six sweeps throughout the weekend and had a number of athletes post strong records.
On Saturday, the women’s sabre and men’s epee teams led the way for both squads, amassing a 61-2 record through seven rounds of competition. Senior sabreur Regina O’Brien led the pack for the women, finishing with a perfect 18-0 record on the day while junior Reghan Ward and sophomore Kara Linder were not far behind with 17-1 records.
On the men’s side, junior foilist Thomas Murray tallied the most wins with a 14-2 record and junior Alexander Ju was not far behind after going 13-2. The men had a total of 12 athletes finish the day with an undefeated record after appearing in at least five bouts.
On Sunday, the women’s foil squad put together a nearly perfect day through seven matches, dropping just a single bout and compiling a 62-1 record on the day. The sabre squad was not far off as they finished the day with a 61-2 record. 10 women reached the double-digit win mark while eight ended the day with an undefeated record.
Sophomore sabreur Sienna Wilson (17-0) and freshman epeeist Victoria Tontcheva (17-1) tied for the most wins with 17. Foilists Beatrice Verrecchia (16-0), Zoe Barnette (15-0) and Solène Watson (15-0) eclipsed the double-digit win category while not dropping a bout.
On the men’s side, the sabre squad led the way with a 61-2 record and the epee squad was right behind with a 60-3 mark for the day. The men also had 10 athletes reach double-digit wins and 10 also finished the day undefeated.
—ND—