Northwestern Soars at DeCicco Duals

1/28/2018 8:38:00 PM | Women's Fencing

SOUTH BEND, Indiana – No. 8 Northwestern impressed once again at the DeCicco Duals, going 10-1 on the weekend to improve its overall record to 39-5.

The Wildcats recorded wins over Florida, Wayne State and Detroit on Saturday and posted another clean sweep on Sunday over Indiana, Michigan State, Chicago, Clemson, Michigan, McKendree and Purdue. The win streak for the team is now back up to eight.

Eight different Wildcats reached double-digit win totals on the weekend, and nine finished with perfect records. First year Zhesi Zhuang led all fencers with 18 wins in sabre, while Anna Tolley totaled 16 wins in epee and her squad mate Shirley Luong earned 15. Sydney Larrier and Alexandra Banin both had the best perfect statlines, going 11-0 in foil.

The 'Cats posted three shutouts on the weekend to bring their season total up to five, the most since the 2013-14 season when they did so six times.

Northwestern started Saturday off with a sweep of Florida, blanking the Gators 27-0 for the second time this season. NU followed it up with 26-1 win over Detroit Mercy, featuring a 3-0 record from Luong in her first competition of 2018.

The Purple and White then squared off against No. 1 Notre Dame, the hosts of the duals celebrating their Senior Day before the match. The defending national champions came out on top with a 17-10 win, despite 2-1 efforts from Sarah Filby and Emine Yücel, who returned to the squad after competing in a senior sabre World Cup event in Baltimore on Friday.

The 'Cats bounced back to close out Saturday against Wayne State with a 22-5 win. Isabella Min and Jacqueline Hua both earned two wins to pull out a tight 5-4 decision in sabre, while the team rolled elsewhere behind perfect records from Lucia Procopio, Anya Harkness, Tolley, Luong and Banin.

The Wildcats picked up a head of steam on Sunday against a slew of Midwest Fencing Conference foes, and kept their foot on the gas pedal the entire way, starting with a 25-2 victory against the Indiana Hoosiers. Sharon Chen earned three wins in her first competition of the weekend, while Stefani Kahookele and Zhuang both earned their second sweep each in sabre.

In another Big Ten matchup, Northwestern defeated the Spartans, 25-2, featuring Pauline Hamilton, Ashley Gomerman and Banin's third sweep of the weekend. The 'Cats followed that up by dominating their crosstown matchup against UChicago, 24-3, behind Maddy Curzon's three wins in her only action of the day.

For their second shutout of the duals, the #B1GCats overpowered the Clemson Tigers, 27-0. Senior Michelle Lee posted a clean sweep in her first appearance on the strip this season. In another 'conference' matchup, NU defeated the Wolverines, 22-5. Amy Jia earned three wins in her only appearance of the weekend, and Alexis Browne took three bouts as well after competing in the same World Cup event as Yücel on Friday.

Northwestern closed out the duals with a shutout over McKendree and a 25-2 win over the Boilermakers. Sharon Chen posted two wins against Purdue to secure an 8-0 record for the weekend as did Sofia Simontov, who finished 12-1.

The #B1GCats are back in action once more in South Bend next weekend in the last event of the regular season. The program will host the two-day NU Duals featuring a slate of the toughest teams in the country, including four top-ten ranked squads.

Results

NU def. Florida, 27-0
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 9-0

NU def. Detroit Mercy, 26-1
Sabre: 8-1
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 9-0

No. 1 Notre Dame def. NU, 17-10
Sabre: 3-6
Foil: 4-5
Epee: 3-6

NU def. Wayne State, 22-5
Sabre: 5-4
Foil: 8-1
Epee: 9-0

NU def. Indiana, 25-2
Sabre: 8-1
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 8-1

NU def. Michigan State, 25-2
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 7-2

NU def. UChicago, 24-3
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 6-3

NU def. Clemson, 27-0
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 9-0

NU def. Michigan, 22-5
Sabre: 6-3
Foil: 8-1
Epee: 8-1

NU def. McKendree, 27-0
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 9-0

NU def. Purdue, 25-2
Sabre: 9-0
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 7-2

Individual Results

Sabre
Alexis Browne: 6-0
Maddy Curzon: 3-0
Ashley Gomerman: 6-2
Jacqueline Hua: 11-1
Stefani Kahookele: 9-0
Isabella Min: 8-5
Abby Tartell: 6-3
Emine Yücel: 5-1
Zhesi Zhuang: 18-2

Foil
Justine Banbury: 4-2
Alexandra Banin: 11-0
Yvonne Chart: 4-2
Sharon Chen: 8-0
Sarah Filby: 5-1
Sydney Larrier: 11-0
Amy Jia: 3-0
Michelle Lee: 3-0
Lucia Procopio: 7-1
Sofia Simontov: 12-1

Epee
Marta Amador Molina: 8-1
Adelle Berdichevsky: 9-1
Pauline Hamilton: 10-2
Anya Harkness: 8-0
Ella Lombard: 7-3
Shirley Luong: 15-3
Anna Tolley: 16-1
Katie Van Riper: 8-3