M Tennis Fencers shine on east coast

By ANNIKA HERKO sports Writer

This weekend, n otre d ame Fencing had two meets on the east coast. The first was at s t. John’s u niversity in Jamaica, n ew York where the men’s team finished 3-2 and the women went 5-0.

The men’s two losses came against o hio s tate and c olumbia. n otre d ame performed well in foil and sabre, but struggled to keep pace against those opponents in epee. p hilip d ority (foil) and Luke Linder (sabre) went 3-0 in bouts against c olumbia to try and get n otre d ame back into the match.

The Irish had decisive wins over p enn s tate, h arvard and s t. John’s. s tephen e wart (epee), s ean m oon (sabre), m aruan o sman-Touson (epee), Jonathan h amiltonm eikle (epee), m arcello o livares (foil) and Alexandre Lacaze (sabre) all went 3-0 in at least one bout during the tournament.

The women’s team went undefeated in Jamaica. Their smallest margin of victory was three (against c olumbia) but they beat h arvard by 21 points. e szter m uhari (epee) and Kara Linder (sabre) went 3-0 in three matches. Amanda p irkowski (epee) went undefeated in two. Amita b erthier (foil), m iriam Grady (epee), s edna Gandhi (epee), p aige Luong (sabre), Jadeyn Williams (sabre), Atara Greenbaum (sabre), and r ebeca c andescu (foil) all went 3-0 in one match. b etween the two teams in all their matches, they went 43 for 81 in one-touch bouts and 16 for 27 in overtime.

The men’s team clinched, when they won, on average, in 21 bouts. The women’s team clinched on average in 20.4 bouts.

The second meet was at the u niversity of p ennsylvania in p hiladelphia. The women’s team finished 3-2 in this tournament, losing to Yale in their first match and c olumbia in their last, each by 1.

The men’s team also went 4-1 with their only loss coming against p rinceton. n oah s ilvers (epee) went 3-0 in that match for the Irish. Kaylin s in Yan h sieh (epee), b erthier, m uhari, and Greenbaum all went 3-0 in two matches while Jane c aulfield (foil) went 3-0 in the women’s toughest match of the weekend against c olumbia (between the two tournaments, c olumbia and n otre d ame went 1-1 against each other). h amilton- m eikle and s ilvers each got three 3-0 bouts. o sman-Touson went 3-0 in two matches. d ority, o livares, George b ivins (sabre), and n ick c andela (epee) all went 3-0 in one bout.

In the match against p enn, n otre d ame went 9-0 in bouts for epee. In the second tournament, for both teams, n otre d ame went 34 for 63 in one-touch bouts and 9 for 17 in overtime.

The men’s team clinched, when they won, on average, in 21.5 bouts. The women’s team clinched on average in 20 bouts.

The n otre d ame Fencing program will host a tournament this upcoming weekend called the d ecicco d uals. s tudents are encouraged to come watch in the Joyce c etner.

Contact Annika Herko at aherko@nd.edu c he has helped serve as the soul and emotional strength of this team through its invitationals, conference play and tournaments over the past three years.

“What c he shows is very different from what c he feels. h e holds it in. h e plays with a fire ... he’s got an intensity about him,” s achire said.

Yet his flaming emotions would sometimes get the best of him, masking his performances.

Learning from those experiences, c he has grown into a model of dedication for the team.

As s achire puts it, “That was a big part of his growth as a player — being able to control his emotions … he has learned to control it, and he’s a much better competitor because of it, and he’s poised to have a great year.” h is enthusiasm for the team, which is hoping to emerge stronger from the challenges of recent seasons, is obvious. o n his goals for the season, he said, “ h oping to do a little bit better than last year — we’re playing a lot of the same teams, so

Yet another key figure on the team is senior c onnor Fu of Andover, m assachusetts. Fu is excited about the opportunity to lead less experienced players through the rigors of the A cc tennis season.

“I think us as older guys who have seen all these matches before … it’s our job to show the younger kids how it’s done during pressure moments,” Fu said.