Feb. 4, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. – The No. 1 Notre Dame women’s fencing team posted a 5-0 record during the second and final day of the Northwestern Duals on Sunday at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion. The Irish concluded the event with a perfect 11-0 mark. The third-ranked Notre Dame men’s squad went 3-1 on Sunday to finish 8-2 at the duals.
On Sunday, the Fighting Irish women opened with identical dominating 26-1 wins over Johns Hopkins and Fairleigh Dickinson. Notre Dame continued its surge with 27-0 triumphs of Cal State Fullerton and Cal Tech. The day wrapped up with a 21-6 victory over Duke to push the Irish’s record to 20-2 on the season.
Fighting Irish teammates Kelley Hurley and Ewa Nelip both went 15-0 in the epee, while Kimberlee Montoya was 8-0 and Vanessa Rosa went 7-0. Hurley now carries a 47-1 record this season. Foilists Adrienne Nott and Hayley Reese both went 10-1 on Sunday and Rachel Cota registered a 12-2 record and Emilie Prot was a perfect 9-0. In the sabre, Sarah Borrmann went 13-0 and Ashley Serrette also totaled 13 wins to go against two losses. Eileen Hassett posted a 10-1 record in the sabre.
The Notre Dame men began Sunday with a 19-8 win against Duke. Next on the docket was a showdown with No. 2 Ohio State. The Irish dropped a hard-fought 14-13 bout to the Buckeyes, yet rebounded to defeat Lawrence 25-2. Notre Dame’s only two losses on the weekend came to No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State. In the fourth and final round of the day, Notre Dame downed North Carolina 19-8 to improve its record to 17-4 this season.
Leading the Irish epee unit on Sunday was Greg Schoolcraft, who went 7-0. Zach Schirtz collected seven wins in the foil as he went 7-2, while Teddy Hodges and Steve Kubik were both 6-1. Bill Thanhouser recorded a 7-5 record in the sabre during the second day of competition.
SATURDAY’S RECAP
The Irish women opened competition with a 20-7 victory over UC San Diego before taking down No. 9 Temple, 17-10, in the second round. Next up was a clash with No. 4 Penn State and Notre Dame topped the Nittany Lions 21-6.
Notre Dame downed its third ranked foe of the afternoon with a 17-10 victory over No. 2 Ohio State. In the fifth round, the Fighting Irish topped Stanford 22-5 and then defeated North Carolina 21-6 to wrap up the day.
Pacing the Irish in the epee was Kelley Hurley, who went 17-1. Fellow epeeists Ewa Nelip and Kimberlee Montoya went 16-2 and 12-6, respectively. Foilists Hayley Reese (12-5) and Adrienne Nott (10-5) both reached double digits in wins. In the sabre, Eileen Hassett went 16-2, while Sarah Borrmann notched a 15-3 record.
On the men’s side, Notre Dame claimed a 20-7 win over UC San Diego in the opening round and then registered a 23-4 triumph of Johns Hopkins. The Irish squared off against top-ranked Penn State in the third round and fell 16-11 for their only loss of the day.
The Irish rebounded with a 22-5 victory over Cal State Fullerton before besting No. 10 Stanford, 21-6. In the final round of the day, Notre Dame topped Cal Tech 24-3.
Leading the charge for the Irish epeeists were Karol Kostka (11-3) and Greg Howard (10-3), who combined to go 21-6. In the foil, Steve Kubik went 10-2, while Teddy Hodges (8-2), Jakub Jedrkowiak (8-3) and Zach Schirtz (8-4) all posted eight wins. Barron Nydam went 12-3 in the sabre for the Irish and Avery Zuck registered a 10-1 mark.
— ND —