Fencing Set for First Dual Meets of 2016-17 at Penn's Elite Invitational on Saturday

Saturday, November 5

Philadelphia, Pa. (Penn)

All Day

Temple University

Elite Invitational (Cornell, Notre Dame, NJIT, Columbia, Johns Hopkins)

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Fencing Set for First Dual Meets of 2016-17 at Penn's Elite Invitational on Saturday

11.3.16 | Women's Fencing

PHILADELPHIA - The dual meet season starts with a bang for Temple fencing on Saturday, Nov. 5 as the Owls head across town to Penn for the Elite Invitational at the Coach Dave Micahnik Center. The Owls' six-opponent lineup includes defending national champion Columbia as well as last year's third place team in the nation, Notre Dame.

"We're very excited to get started and to face such strong competition so early in the season," said Temple head coach Dr. Nikki Franke. "That's going to be very helpful for us in the long run. We have high expectations about our depth and about how well we can do at this meet."

The Owls got a great confidence boost from the Temple Open individual meet last weekend, which saw 10 members of Temple fencing earn top-eight finishes in their respective events.

Junior Becca Stanford earned a win in women's foil, defeating teammate and freshman Kennedy Lovelace who took second place. Sophomore Auset Muhammad was narrowly knocked out in the semifinals by Stanford and finished in a tie for third.

All four Temple fencers who were competing in sabre at the Temple Open made it to the final eight. Sophomore Blessing Olaode battled through muscle spasms in the championship bout and lost by just two points to take second place. Sophomore Jessica Rockford and freshman Kerry Plunkett tied for third in sabre, while freshman Malia Hee took fifth.

Three epee fencers also earned top eight finishes, led by junior Safa Ibrahim who tied for third. Senior Alexandra Keft finished in fifth place, while sophomore Quinn Duwelius took eighth place.

Saturday's meet will be an even longer day for the Owls than the Temple Open, testing their physical as well as their mental fitness. The day begins against Notre Dame at 8:30 a.m., and finishes with NJIT at 6:00 p.m. The Owls will face defending champion Columbia at 3:00 p.m.

At last year's Elite Invitational, Temple finished 3-2 with losses only to Columbia and Ohio State, both ranked in the Top 10. The Owls defeated Air Force, Johns Hopkins and NJIT.

Temple's schedule for this year's Elite Invitational is as follows:
8:30 a.m. - Notre Dame
10:00 a.m. - Bye
11:30 a.m. - Cornell
1:00 p.m. - Lunch
1:30 p.m. - Yale
3:00 p.m. - Columbia
4:30 p.m. - Johns Hopkins
6:00 p.m. - NJIT