Feb. 6, 2003

On Friday morning The University of North Carolina men's fencing team (18-10) will take the short ride north up 15-501 to participate in Duke University's annual dual meet. UNC's women fencers (11-13) will compete on Saturday. Duke has also invited Air Force, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame and Stanford.

Head fencing coach Ron Miller states, "this will be an interesting meet. It's the last one of the season so everyone is geared up. It's a good opportunity for revenge against Duke. We fenced close against them at Penn State but we had one weapon that had some issues in a few of the bouts. Hopefully we have corrected the problem. At this stage of the season the Tar Heels are focusing on the NCAA tournament as well. The competition in the Duke duals is indicitive of the quality of fencers the Tar Heels will meet in the NCAA regionals.

Coach Miller's teams have challenged Duke many times over his 36 year career. He has high praise for the Blue Devil staff. " Duke consistantly puts on a black tie event. They do a wonderful job in terms of physical preparation, notes Miller. "Flags, banners, and posters; it's beautiful. Also, they consistently invite good officials and great competition; it's first class. "

The first meet begins at 8:00 a.m. Friday morning in Card Gymnasium. Each meet last approximately 90 minutes. UNC will begin with Notre Dame, followed by Stanford, Duke and finishing with the Air Force Academy. The UNC women will follow the same schedule on Saturday, February 8th.