Tenth-Ranked Fencing Takes Down Two More Top 10 Teams at Northwestern Duals

Sunday, February 3

Evanston, Ill.

All Day

Temple University

Air Force, Princeton, Ohio State, Lawrence, UNC

Photo by: Nguyen Ho

Tenth-Ranked Fencing Takes Down Two More Top 10 Teams at Northwestern Duals

2.3.19 | Women's Fencing

EVANSTON, Ill. - The 10th-ranked Temple fencing team finished 9-2 overall for the two-day Northwestern Duals, including a perfect 5-0 mark on the second day. After defeating #2 Northwestern on day one, the Owls (18-7) proceeded to defeat #5 Ohio State and #6 Princeton on day two.

Day Two Summary
> It was a fantastic day from start to finish for the Owls, who got strong performances out of every squad.
> All three squads were victorious in a 20-7 win over Air Force to start the day.
> The foil squad was a perfect 9-0 while sabre won 6-3 in the Owls' 19-8 upset of #6 Princeton.
> Epee and sabre both won 6-3 against #5 Ohio State, helping Temple to a team score of 15-12 over the Buckeyes.
> The Owls did not give up a single bout in a 27-0 win vs. Lawrence, and finished the day with a 19-8 defeat of UNC. All three squads defeated the Tar Heels, led by epee with a score of 8-1.

Individual Highlights
> Junior Kerry Plunkett led the sabre squad and the entire team with an impressive record of 21-2 overall, including a 12-0 performance on day one. She was undefeated at 3-0 against Duke, Northwestern, Princeton and Air Force with a 2-1 mark vs. Notre Dame and a 2-0 mark vs. Stanford.
> Also for the sabre squad, junior Malia Hee went 17-4 overall with 3-0 showings against Northwestern and Ohio State along with 2-1 marks vs. Notre Dame and Princeton.
> Senior Auset Muhammad led the foil squad at 17-9 overall and went 2-0 vs. Stanford, 2-1 vs. Duke and 2-1 vs. UNC. Fellow foilist and junior Kennedy Lovelace (8-2 on day two) posted a 3-0 record against Ohio State.
> On day one, junior Camille Simmons (epee) went 2-1 vs. #1 Notre Dame and also went 2-1 against Stanford and 2-0 vs. UC San Diego. She finished 13-7 overall after going 2-1 vs. UNC and 1-0 vs. Ohio State on day two.
> Senior Ally Micek turned in an 11-1 performance on the second day which included 3-0 records vs. Ohio State and UNC with a 2-1 mark vs. Princeton and a 2-0 mark vs. Air Force.
> Sophomore Zahrah Dinkins went 5-1 for epee on day two including a 3-0 record against Lawrence.

Quotable
"This was just a very good weekend for us and all the squads did such a good job. Epee in particular was very strong today, and for them to go 4-5 against Princeton was really great because Princeton's epee fencers are so strong. We faced some of the best competition over two long days, and different people keep stepping up each day to carry the team on their shoulders. That's allowing us to get that consistency we've been trying to find all year.

"Kerry was undefeated yesterday and today Ally went 11-1 and Kennedy went 8-1. Camille fenced really well all weekend and Auset was on fire yesterday. Seeing so many different people step up when it matters is so important for us. The win over Northwestern yesterday was huge, on their home strips and on their Senior Day. The loss to Duke was disappointing after beating them a few weeks ago, but for us to come away from this weekend with just two losses is very good"

- Head Coach Dr. Nikki Franke

Up Next
> On Saturday, Feb. 9, Temple will head to Newark, N.J. for the FDU Invitational where the Owls will face NJIT, Stevens and Wagner.

#10 Temple 20, Air Force 7
Epee 7-2
Foil 6-3
Sabre 7-2

#10 Temple 19, #6 Princeton 8
Epee 4-5
Foil 9-0
Sabre 6-3

#10 Temple 15, #5 Ohio State 12
Epee 6-3
Foil 3-6
Sabre 6-3

#10 Temple 27, Lawrence 0
Epee 9-0
Foil 9-0
Sabre 9-0

#10 Temple 19, UNC 8
Epee 8-1
Foil 6-3
Sabre 5-4