Tar Heels Perfect In Season Opener
Oct. 26, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina fencing team hosted its first home meet since 2004 on Sunday and ended the day with a perfect record. The men's team had five meets and the women had three at the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association "C" Dual Meets Round Robin, held at Fetzer Gym. Other tournament participants were varsity squads from Haverford and Johns Hopkins and club teams from Virginia, Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Starting at 9:30 a.m., both the UNC men and women had successful meets against Virginia. The men followed suit against Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Those schools did not bring full women's squads, so the women picked it up competition again against Haverford and then Johns Hopkins alongside the men's squad. "For early season, we did phenomenally," UNC coach Ron Miller said. "In terms of where we need to be for postseason, we made a good start." The UNC's men's sabre team dominated throughout the day, losing no more than two bouts of the nine in any meet. In fact, no UNC weapon won fewer than three bouts in any of the day's matchups. Senior Bobby Ziechmann, a men's sabre captain, had a particularly strong day. When asked about his squad's performance, he said, "This group has been together for four years. With the exception of my brother, Kevin, the starters are all seniors. We've grown pretty close and been together for so long and really enjoy competing alongside one another."
UNC's men had its closest meet of the day with Johns Hopkins, the only team in the MACFA to hand Carolina a loss last year. The Tar Heels pulled it out 16-11. "It's very good to start off the year by beating a team that's given us trouble before," said men's epee captain Ben Gellis, a senior.
The whole squad was very excited to have a home meet. No one currently on the team had been part of the UNC squad for a home meet, so Sunday's was special. "We aren't tired from a night on the bus, we're sleeping in our own beds and not in a motel, and we have our friends here and our supporters to come and cheer us on," sophomore Katie Williamson said. "That really means a lot. It's good to be home."
Miller was very pleased to open his 42nd season with a great dual meet. "I think the biggest difference between this year early season and last year is maturity level in the context that the more experienced athletes have done this before, a lot, and they carried the people that are new that have never been in a collegiate dual meet," Miller said. "Really, it was a pleasure." UNC Results for the 2008 MACFA "C" Dual Meets Round Robin Round 1: North Carolina (UNC) v. Virginia (UVA) Men: UNC 24 - UVA 3
Women: UNC 20 - UVA 7
Round 2: North Carolina (UNC) v. Virginia Tech (VT) Men: UNC 23 - VT 4
Round 3: North Carolina (UNC) v. William & Mary (WM) Men: UNC 19 - WM 8
Round 4: North Carolina (UNC) v. Haverford (HAV) Men: UNC 17 - HAV 10
Women: UNC 21 - HAV 6
Round 5: North Carolina (UNC) v. Johns Hopkins (JH) Men: UNC 16 - JH 11
Women: UNC 21 - JH 6
|
 |
