Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Set to Host Action-Packed NU Duals
1/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Fencing
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Seeking to improve upon its overall record of 26-4, Northwestern fences 13 matches at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion this weekend, including five against opponents ranked in the top 10, four of which it saw last weekend.
The Wildcats,who are ranked ninth in this season's initial CollegeFencing360 coaches poll, won 20 consecutive matches to begin the 2014-15 campaign before dropping a pair of one-point contests against No. 10 Temple and No. 6 Penn at the Philadelphia Invitational. NU finished that event with back-to-back victories over Sacred Heart and Johns Hopkins.
After their stint in the City of Brotherly Love, the 'Cats traveled to Jersey City, N.J. for the NYU Invitational. Northwestern won one of its first three matches, a 21-6 triumph over Yale before posting its most memorable win of the weekend. With the score tied at 13, NU junior Kaitlyn Wallace calmly delivered a 5-1 epée victory over No. 5 Ohio State's Maj Shaito to help the Wildcats win over their Midwest Fencing Conference rival, 14-13.
Wallace won all six bouts she fenced against No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 5 Ohio State while tallying a 12-3 record on the day. After downing the Buckeyes, NU also defeated Wayne State and NYU in the Garden State.
Wallace, a junior won 12 bouts at the NYU Invitational, while sabre fencer Cindy Oh led the team with 14 victories. Oh also added 11 wins in Philly to lead the team there as well.
The Wildcats return to Evanston this weekend to host 15 teams from around the country beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, January 31. The 'Cats open against Stanford, the team they defeated at the Western Invitational for head coach Laurie Schiller's 1,200th career win, before rematching against No. 6 Penn. The action continues against No. 1 Notre Dame (10 a.m.) and No. 5 Ohio State (11 a.m.) before breaking for lunch.
Northwestern hits the strips again at 2:30 p.m. to fence North Carolina and Fairleigh Dickinson in back-to-back rounds.
Prior to the start of fencing on Saturday, NU's four-member senior class will be recognized in a brief ceremony beginning at 7:45 a.m. Sarah Bruhl, Katherine Kim, Mary Spohn and Tina Umanskiy will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the Northwestern fencing program over the past four years.
The NU Duals resume on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 8 a.m. The hosts face UC San Diego and Air Force to open the morning before going back-to-back against No. 10 Temple (10 a.m.) and No. 3 Princeton (11 a.m.).
Northwestern will also fence Cal Tech, Detroit and Cleveland State on the final day of the meet.
The complete NU Duals schedule (PDF) is available by clicking here. Admission is free to the NU Duals on both days. Please click here for driving directions to the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion.
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