Feb. 9, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a tough day of varsity bouts on Saturday, the University of Notre Dame fencing program hosted three Midwestern club teams for the second day of the DeCicco duals on Sunday afternoon. The Irish won all three bouts handily, with competition concluding shortly before 3:00 p.m.
“We enjoy having these matches for the other teams, giving the club teams an opportunity to fence against some world-class, high caliber fencers,” Irish associate head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia says. “For our kids, it is more of a scrimmage, but everyone has fun so we enjoy doing it.”
The Irish had to postpone their 11:00 a.m. matchup against Bradley, who got caught in traffic on the way in to South Bend. Starting at 12:00 p.m., the men’s team out-dueled Chicago 24-3 while the women went 26-1.
Moving on to Purdue, Notre Dame’s squads posted matching 25-2 records against the Boilermakers. After a quick bite to eat for lunch, the Bradley match kicked off at 2:00 p.m., where the two teams once again posted matching 26-1 scores. This weekend was the second-to-last time Notre Dame will host a Midwest Fencing Conference event, before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014.
“Once we move to the ACC, it becomes a depth matter – especially on the men’s side,” Kvaratskhelia comments about the differences in conferences. “We will lose Ohio State, who is a very strong team – and has been for many years – but Duke has been challenging us as of late, and hopefully with us going to that conference, it will raise the bar and all teams will build strong squads for a close competition.”
Notre Dame finishes the regular season with a Junior Olympics match next weekend in Portland, Ore. Stay tuned to und.com/fencing for full results.
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