The Blue Devils fencing team secured victories over rival North Carolina in both the men’s and women’s competition this weekend at the Duke Invitational.
It was the final competition of the season for the Blue Devils as a team, but many individuals will continue on to the Junior Olympics next weekend and the regional qualifying tournament in March.
“They fenced better and better every week, every competition,” head coach Alex Beguinet said. “Right now I think they all fenced very, very well. I’m very pleased. I have to give them more credit than what I thought they would have done. It was a very nice surprise.”
In Saturday’s women’s competition, Duke won the overall epee title and finished second in the saber weapon.
The team finished 3-1 in head-to-head competitions, beating UNC, Air Force and Johns Hopkins, but losing to Notre Dame 16-11.
Marilyn Tycer fenced to a 10-2 record in foil bouts and sophomore All-American Ibtihaj Muhammad had perfect 3-0 records against the Tar Heels and Johns Hopkins in saber. All-American Anne Kercsmar and Dorothy Hubbard led the epee squad to a series of 8-1 wins.
“I think everyone was just more consistent today than on other days,” captain Jaimie West said. “We all really like fencing here because it’s our home meet. It’s nicer to be at home.”
In a tightly contested match on the men’s side, Duke earned 5-4 victories in the epee and foil weapons to down the Tar Heels 14-13. Senior captain Nathan Bragg and freshman Zachary Moss led the epee squad with 2-1 records.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.