Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Women's Fencing Opens With Four Wins At Northwestern Invitational

Jan. 13, 2002

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Notre Dame women’s fencing team headed into Sunday’s season-opening competition at the Northwestern Invitational minus two of its top individuals but the depth of the Irish squad carried the day, as Notre Dame cruised to four victories despite the absence of freshman foilists Andrea Ament and Alicja Kryczalo (who were competing at a senior World Cup event in Budapest, Hungary).

Junior Liza Boutsikaris (Sparta, N.J.) and sophomore Maggie Jordan (Maplewood, N.J.) picked up the slack as the Irish coped with the absence of their top foilists, with Boutsikaris winning all 12 of her foil bouts and Jordan going 11-0 as Notre Dame posted wins over Johns Hopkins (22-5), Fairleigh Dickinson (22-5), Temple (19-8) and North Carolina (19-8). Jordan-who fenced foil for the Irish in 2001-had switched back this season to her traditional sabre before making a quick return to foil for Sunday’s action.

Boutsikaris and Jordan led an Irish foil squad that won 30 of 36 bouts, edging the epeeists (29-7) for the day’s best performance by a Notre Dame weapon.

Two other Irish fencers posted undefeated records, as sabre Destanie Milo (Knox, Ind.) went 10-0 while fellow sophomore Kerry Walton (Londonderry, N.H.)-who did not fence with the Irish in 2001-won all 11 of her epee bouts. Notre Dame’s captains also had strong days with just one loss each, as fifth-year sabre Carianne McCullough (Philadelphia, Pa.) won seven of eight bouts while junior epeeist Anna Carnick (Mishawaka, Ind.) was 10-1.

Boutsikaris (102-15) and Carnick (104-29) both registered their 100th regular-season victory at Notre Dame, as did junior epeeist Meagan Call (Eugene, Ore., 7-4/100-27). Boutsikaris’ undefeated day pushed her career winning percentage to .872, good for eighth in Notre Dame women’s fencing history.

Notre Dame won its first six bouts versus Temple before clinching the match with nine wins in the next 13 bouts. Milo (5-4) and McCullough (5-2) both posted impressive wins over Temple’s Sakinah Shaahid-the fourth-place finisher at the 2001 NCAAs-while sophomore Jessie Filkins had a solid showing in her 5-4 loss to Shaahid.

Temple’s epee squad returned two fencers-Sara Forsythe and Julia Korony-who competed in the 2001 NCAAs but the Irish posted five wins over the duo. Walton (5-2 vs. Forsythe, 5-2 vs. Korony) and Carnick (5-1, 5-2) registered wins over both Temple stars while Call beat Forsythe (5-1) and lost to Korony (5-4). Carnick and Call both beat their Temple counterparts at the 2001 NCAAs, with Call also besting Korony in the 2000 NCAAs (Carnick lost, 5-3).

Half of Temple’s eight wins came in one-touch bouts, with the Irish winning 15 of 26 one-touch bouts during the four matches.

The ND-UNC match was tight in the earlygoing, with the Irish holding a 5-3 edge, before Notre Dame won eight straight bouts to put away the Tar Heels. That streak included foil wins from Jordan, senior Michelle Sutton and Boutsikaris and four sabre wins (from Milo, McCullough, Filkins and sophomore Danielle Davis) before Carnick and Walton clinched the win.

UNC likewise was led by an epeeist who competed in the 2001 NCAAs, Beth Athanas, but Carnick won 5-2-reprising her win over Athanas from the 2001 NCAAs-while Walton dominated Athanas, 5-1 (Call lost 5-1 to the UNC star, despite beating her 5-3 at the 2001 NCAAs).

Another top opponent awaited the Irish in the JHU match, as All-American Sarah Walsh posted wins over Filkins (5-1) and junior Melissa Trevino (5-0). But Milo proved her worth as an All-American hopeful, outlasting Walsh in a 5-4 decision (she lost to Walsh in the 2001 NCAAs, 5-1, while McCullough lost to Walsh in the 2001 NCAAs, 5-2, before beating her in 2001, 5-4).

Notre Dame’s only other opponent who competed in the 2001 NCAAs was FDU sabre Cathleen Ferris, who dropped a 5-1 bout to McCullough (who beat her 5-0 at the 2001 NCAAs and 5-4 in 2000) before posting wins over Filkins (5-4) and sophomore Mary-Hope Feher (5-1).

The Notre Dame men’s and women’s teams next are in action at the New York University Duals (Jan. 27), with that talented field also slated to include defending NCAA champion St. John’s, Columbia and Yale. A large contingent of Notre Dame fencers also are expected to compete in the Jan. 18-21 North American Cup event, to be held just minutes from campus in downtown South Bend.

Northwestern Invitational (women) - Jan. 13, 2002ND 22, Johns Hopkins 5 ... ND 22, Fairleigh Dickinson 5 ... ND 19, Temple 8 ... ND 19, North Carolina 8
Epee JHU FDU TEM UNC Tot. CareerMeagan Call 2-0 3-0 2-1 0-3 7-4 100-27Anna Carnick 2-1 3-0 3-0 2-0 10-1 104-29Susan Clark 1-0 ---- ---- ---- 1-0 1-0Kirsten Housing ---- ---- 0-1 0-1 0-2 0-2Kerry Walton 3-0 3-0 2-0 3-0 11-0 11-0 8-1 9-0 7-2 5-4 29-7FoilLiza Boutsikaris 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 12-0 102-15Maggie Jordan 3-0 2-0 3-0 3-0 11-0 56-17Kathryn Schuster --- 0-1 ---- 1-1 1-2 4-4Michelle Sutton 2-1 2-1 1-2 1-0 6-4 30-21 8-1 7-2 7-2 8-1 30-6SabreDanielle Davis ---- 1-0 ---- 1-0 2-0 2-0Mary-Hope Feher ---- 0-1 ---- 0-1 0-2 0-2Jessie Filkins 1-2 1-1 1-2 1-2 4-7 32-16Carianne McCullough 2-0 2-0 1-1 2-0 7-1 82-21Destanie Milo 3-0 2-0 3-0 2-0 10-0 51-11Melissa Trevi?o 0-1 0-1 0-1 ---- 0-3 1-3 6-3 6-3 5-4 6-3 23-13