Feb. 9, 2006

The UNC fencing team will venture to Durham to compete in the Duke Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The men's side of the competition include the 10th ranked Blue Devils and three teams that received vote in the January 18th USFCA poll including the Tar Heels, Brandeis and Cleveland State. Participating in the women's competition include Brandeis, Johns Hopkins, and three teams that received votes in the January 18th USFCA poll including the Tar Heels, Temple and Duke. At stake is one Carlyle Cup point.

UNC fencing coach Ron Miller comments on the upcoming dual meet:

"Always the climax of the season not just because it will be with Duke, but usually because it`s good competition. Last year the top two teams were there Notre Dame and Stanford, and this year the teams may not have the same names but this year the teams are very good. So everyone in the competition is a strong team. We have already fenced Johns Hopkins and we have already fenced Temple and Cleveland State so they will be second matches for us. The men have lost to Temple; Temple is a very good team this year. We beat Cleveland State, both men and women and we beat Johns Hopkins, both men and women, but the Johns Hopkins men's match is always a battle. So we are looking forward to some strong competition. We saw M.I.T. and Brandeis last weekend in Boston and they are two very excellent teams. M.I.T. has very strong sabre and epee. Brandeis has very strong foil but they are good in the other two. So all the matches will be a strong challenge for us. This will be this first meet of the year with Duke. We were not able to get a home meet with them and even the two places we historically have our home meet with them which would be either Penn or Penn State, they were not able to stay so we did not get a competition with them. The Carlyle Cup competition is resting solely on this competition. Looks like we are going to be healthy. The only starter that will be out will be Sally Lampron because she broke her foot. She is recovering nicely and she will be ready by regionals. So all in all I think its going to be competitive and as long as we are ready to fence five weeks in a row I think we will be in good shape. So we will start with a strong meet with Brandeis. Maybe the second meet is not quite so tough and then Duke will definitely be tough and then we finish with M.I.T. which is also a very strong team. So it's going to be a good two days; we are looking forward to it."

Tar Heels Duke schedule for Friday and Saturday

Friday Men's Team

8-9:30 Cleveland State

9:30-11 Brandeis

11-12:30 Duke

12:30-1:15 Break

1:15-2:45 Johns Hopkins

2:45-4:15 M.I.T

Saturday Women's Team

8-9:30 Temple

9:30-11 Brandeis

11-12:30 Duke

12:30-1:15 Break

1:15-2:45 Johns Hopkins

2:45-4:15 M.I.T