Nov. 19, 2009

HAVERFORD, Pa. - The North Carolina fencing squads opened the team portion of their schedule Sunday with an undefeated outing at the Haverford Duals. The UNC men were 6-0 for the day, while the women were 3-0.

"It was an excellent team performance," UNC coach Ron Miller said.

The Tar Heel men took on varsity teams from Johns Hopkins (W 19-8), Yeshiva (W 24-2) and host Haverford (W 16-11), as well as club teams from Florida (W 20-7), Virginia (W 23-4) and William & Mary (W 20-3). The women faced off against Florida (W 16-11), Haverford (W 20-7) and Johns Hopkins (W 17-10).

Several Carolina fencers finished the day undefeated. In men's epee, freshman Thomas Le Guillou was 14-0 and sophomore Jay Goss was 4-0. Junior Jarrett Rodrigues was 12-1 overall.

In men's foil, freshman Joseph Alter led the way at 15-1 overall. In men's sabre, junior Kevin Ziechmann, an NCAA Championships participant last season, finished 14-2 for the day's top performance in that weapon. Junior David Winer was 13-2.

In the women's competition, three Tar Heels were undefeated, with senior May-Lynne Chen-Contino and junior Kaitlin Williamson both 8-0 in foil and senior Jennifer Sawicki 9-0 in sabre. Junior Hannah Thurman suffered just one loss in foil, finishing 8-1. Freshman Sara Leung had the same record in sabre.

Every Tar Heel weapon finished in the winning column for the day except for women's epee, which was 10-17 overall, despite a 6-1 showing from junior Melissa Litschi.

"Obviously we have some work to do with women's epee," Miller said. "That group fenced well, but had some frustrations on the day. Part of it is that Johns Hopkins has an excellent women's epee squad and we lack experience in that weapon, but we're making progress."

The duals at Haverford following a trip to the Temple Open on Oct. 31-Nov. 1. There, the Carolina fencers competed as individuals, faring well. "I'd say we had a typical performance at Temple - the starters did well and our young fencers got some experience at the national level," Miller said. "Both competitions were excellent starts for us. The real test is what we can do at the Penn State Open."

That meet is in State College, Pa., Nov. 21-22, with the men's team competing on Saturday and the women on Sunday.

Haverford Duals Results:

Women:
UNC 20, Haverford 7
Epee 5-4
Foil 8-1
Sabre 7-2

UNC 16, Florida (club) 11
Epee 3-6
Foil 8-1
Sabre 5-4

UNC 17, Johns Hopkins 10
Epee 2-7
Foil 8-1
Sabre 7-2

Men:
UNC 16, Haverford 11
Epee 7-2
Foil 4-5
Sabre 5-4

UNC 20, Florida (club) 7
Epee 7-2
Foil 8-1
Sabre 5-4

UNC 19, Johns Hopkins 8
Epee 9-0
Foil 6-3
Sabre 4-5

UNC 23, Virginia (club) 4
Epee 7-2
Foil 9-0
Sabre 7-2

UNC 24, Yeshiva 2
Epee 9-0
Foil 8-0
Sabre 7-2

UNC 20, William & Mary (club) 3
Epee 6-1
Foil 6-1
Sabre 8-1