The Duke fencing team traveled to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Notre Dame Invitational this weekend. While neither the men nor women escaped unscathed, both teams considered their performances a success.
The women opened the competition with a match against the nation's second-ranked team, the Fighting Irish. Despite a 2-1 win by Kristina Schafer in epee and another 2-1 win by Nyasha London in foil, the Duke women fell by a score of 20-7.
"I actually think we had a pretty good match against Notre Dame," Schafer said. "They are a really strong team. I don't think it was a big surprise."
The women lost all nine bouts against Notre Dame in sabre, but the Blue Devils were not troubled by the result.
"Sabre is going to be our weakest spot this year," Schafer said. "Our three fencers are all freshmen and it is a very tough adjustment. They are showing enormous improvement."
Following the Notre Dame loss, the Blue Devils fell to Northwestern 22-5 before winning four straight bouts.
The four wins included victories over the Florida club team and the consistently strong programs Wayne State and Cleveland State.
The tightest match of the afternoon was a 15-12 triumph against a tough Air Force team.
While Duke won 8-1 in foil, Schafer felt the driving force was the three fencers fighting sabre. The trio kept it close, losing only 5-4.
"In our last round against Air Force, they are what put us over the top," she said. "They gave us the momentum to win. I would give them the credit."
The Blue Devil men had perhaps a better day than did the women. They finished 4-1, with their only loss coming at the blades of powerhouse Notre Dame by a score of 23-5.
Despite this tough loss, Duke was able to knock off a dangerous Northwestern team, 14-13. The Blue Devils lost both sabre and epee by a 5-4 margin, but were able to put up a 6-3 win in foil to seal the victory.
The Blue Devils' final three matches were not nearly as close. Duke defeated Wayne State 17-10, Florida 18-9 and Cleveland State 22-5.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.