ACC Men’s Team Results:
http://theacc.co/fen18menteam
ACC Women’s Individual Results:
http://theacc.co/fen18womenindividual
Greensboro, N.C. (theACC.com)—Duke, ranked ninth nationally, used strong performances in the foil and epee to upset No. 2 Notre Dame and claim the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Fencing Championship Saturday at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Blue Devils downed the Irish, 19-8, in the final pairings of the day, using an 8-1 advantage in the epee and a 7-2 record in the foil, to hand Notre Dame its first fencing loss in the ACC Championship since joining the conference for the 2014-15 season.
The win for Duke was its first ACC fencing title and came after the Blue Devils had lost, 14-13, to the Irish a year ago in the same event.
“As you know last year was very close and we didn’t get it,” said Duke head coach Alex Beguinet. “We were so ready this year, so ready. Everybody was wanting it so much. All year, the focus was on winning the ACC.
“The will of our student-athletes was the key. Getting them to believe that ‘yes you can do it.’ And they did. The kids are the ones who fence. This was wonderful.”
Duke finished with a 3-0 record in the Championship, while Notre Dame was 2-1. North Carolina was third at 1-2, followed by Boston College 0-3.
The loss for Notre Dame came on the heels of the Irish No. 1-ranked women’s team capturing top honors in all three individual categories, and sweeping the foil and sabre weapons events. Notre Dame junior Elyssa Klein (San Francisco, California) won the foil, senior Francesca Russo (Wayne, Indiana) the sabre and junior Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Maryland) the epee.
The Notre Dame women garnered seven of the final nine places. The title for Russo was her third consecutive, while both Klein and Sirico won for the first time.
Host North Carolina saw two of its fencers earn medals for the first time in the women’s ACC Championship. Sophomore Georgina Summers (Surrey, England) became the first Tar Heel woman to advance to the finals, taking a second place or silver medal finish, while her teammate sophomore Justine de Grasse (Denver, Colorado), finished third to take the bronze.
The top two finishers in each category compose the 2018 All-ACC Women’s Fencing Team.
The ACC Fencing Championships will continue on Sunday, beginning at 7 a.m. with the men’s individual fencing competition, followed by the women’s team matches. The men’s championship bouts will begin at 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by the Women’s team championship at 12:30 p.m.
ACC Men’s Team Scores
First Round
Notre Dame 20, Boston College 7 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 6-3, Epee 7-2)
Duke 19, North Carolina 8 (Sabre 5-4, Foil 8-1, Epee 6-3)
Second Round
Notre Dame 23, North Carolina 4 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 9-0, Epee 7-2)
Duke 24, Boston College 3 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 9-0, Epee 8-1)
Third Round
Duke 19, Notre Dame 8 (Sabre 4-5, Foil 7-2, Epee 8-1)
North Carolina 18, Boston College 9 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 3-6, Epee 7-2)
ACC Women’s Individual Finals
Foil
- Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame (Gold)
- Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame (Silver)
- Samantha Viqueira, Notre Dame (Bronze)
Sabre
- Francesca Russo, Notre Dame (Gold)
- Tara Hassett, Notre Dame (Silver)
- Reghan Ward, Notre Dame (Bronze)
Epee
- Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame (Gold)
- Georgina Summers, North Carolina (Silver)
- Justine de Grasse, North Carolina (Bronze)
2018 All-ACC Fencing Team
Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame
Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame
Francesca Russo, Notre Dame
Tara Hassett, Notre Dame
Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame
Georgina Summers, North Carolina
Top 10 Finishers in each weapons category
Foil
- Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame (Silver)
3. Morgan Partridge, Notre Dame (Bronze)
4. Samantha Viqueira, Notre Dame
5. Rhiannon Harvey, Duke
6. Julia Gianneshi, Duke
8. Wei Chee Chen, North Carolina
Epee
- Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame (Gold)
- Georgina Summers, North Carolina (Silver)
- Justine de Grasse, North Carolina (Bronze)
- Claudia Wrampelmeier, Duke
- Dasha Yefremenko, Notre Dame
- Julia Barry, Notre Dame
- Camille Esnault, Duke
- Ella Morgan, Boston College
- Marie-Anne Roche, Notre Dame
- Maria Papadopoulos, Duke
Sabre
- Francesca Russo, Notre Dame (Gold)
- Tara Hassett, Notre Dame (Silver)
- Reghan Ward, Notre Dame (Bronze)
- Haley Fisher, Duke
- Claudia Kulmacz, Notre Dame
- Jennifer Ling, Duke
- Jacqueline Litynsky, North Carolina
- Lindsay Sapienza, Duke
- Gabrielle Chau, Boston College
- Clara Somfelean, North Carolina