Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Head to Ohio State
10/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
Oct. 29, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Northwestern women's fencing team will compete in its first dual meet of the season when it travels this weekend to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State Duals and Open.
Last year, NU took five of six duals at the event, with the lone loss coming from the Buckeyes. This time around, the Wildcats hope to avenge the loss, as well as pick up wins against Chicago, Bowling Green, Cleveland State, Michigan State, Case Western and Purdue.
"We look forward to competing in the event, especially against Ohio State," said head coach Laurie Schiller. "They are a tough program. They beat us last year, but we have the talent to beat them this time around."
Schiller expects to start Lauren Dunn (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo), Lauren Van Gieson (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) and Emily Pasternak (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) at sabre; Sharon Sullivan (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), Courtney DuBois (Chatham, N.J./Oak Knoll) and Sara Pecherek (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) at ep?e; and Christina Wang (Milpitas, Calif./Castilleja), Jessica Florendo (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School) and Julia F?ldi (Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istavan Gimnazium) at foil.
In the lineup, three freshmen (Pecherek, DuBois and Florendo) are getting chances to shine and experience college-level competition, which is exactly what Schiller was hoping.
"We have a lot of skilled freshmen on the team," said Schiller. "This is their opportunity to get some collegiate dual meets under their belt."
Added Schiller: "We have not fenced as a team yet. Now we can see how good our team chemistry is, too."
NU begins competition at 8 a.m. (Eastern) Saturday against Chicago and finishes against Purdue at 5 p.m.
