Feb. 3, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. – The top-ranked Notre Dame women’s fencing team registered a perfect 6-0 record during the first day of the Northwestern Duals on Saturday at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion. The Fighting Irish notched wins over three ranked teams to move to 15-2 on the season heading into the second and final day of the duals on Sunday. The No. 3 Notre Dame men went 5-1 on Saturday with the only setback coming to No. 1 Penn State.
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 to carry a 14-3 season record into Sunday.
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 —