Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Malia Hee
Franke Announces Fencing Schedule
1.28.21 | Women's Fencing
PHILADELPHIA - Following the cancellation of the 2019-20 season one week before the NCAA Championships, head coach Dr. Nikki Franke is announcing the Temple fencing team's 2020-21 schedule. The slate features four regular season meets, with three at home, before postseason play at the end of March.
"The team is very excited to have an opportunity to compete after nearly a year of no competition," Franke said. "It is truly a blessing and we are very grateful. We have a challenging schedule starting out with some of the nation's top teams. After months of hard work, with a fairly young team, our schedule will be a good test of where we are and what we need to continue to work on."
The Owls will open the season at Ohio State on Feb. 6 and 7, with Temple set to face Northwestern, Wayne State, Air Force, Notre Dame, Duke, and host Ohio State. The Cherry and White will return home for a tri-meet on Feb. 14 against Long Island and Farleigh Dickinson.
Senior day activities will take place on Feb. 21 for the Temple Invitational, with Penn State, John's Hopkins, St. John's, and NJIT set to compete. The Owls will close out the regular season on March 6, hosting NJIT, Lafayette, and Stevens.
The NCAA Championships will take place at Penn State from March 25-28.
The 2019-20 season was a historic one for the Owls, with the team earning a program-high No. 5 ranking last February and capturing its 25th-straight NIWFA Team Title. The team also swept the weapon titles for the first time since 2015 and the individual titles for the first time since 2014, with Kennedy Lovelace earning the foil title, Margherita Calderaro earning the epee title, and Zoe Turner earning the sabre title. Temple also qualified five fencers for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009.
Temple lost five seniors from last year's squad, signing six recruits to the 2020-21 roster. Seniors Malia Hee and Kerry Plunkett finished their careers with 235 sabre wins each, tying to set the program record, while Lovelace set the all-time foil wins record (243).Â
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"The team is very excited to have an opportunity to compete after nearly a year of no competition," Franke said. "It is truly a blessing and we are very grateful. We have a challenging schedule starting out with some of the nation's top teams. After months of hard work, with a fairly young team, our schedule will be a good test of where we are and what we need to continue to work on."
The Owls will open the season at Ohio State on Feb. 6 and 7, with Temple set to face Northwestern, Wayne State, Air Force, Notre Dame, Duke, and host Ohio State. The Cherry and White will return home for a tri-meet on Feb. 14 against Long Island and Farleigh Dickinson.
Senior day activities will take place on Feb. 21 for the Temple Invitational, with Penn State, John's Hopkins, St. John's, and NJIT set to compete. The Owls will close out the regular season on March 6, hosting NJIT, Lafayette, and Stevens.
The NCAA Championships will take place at Penn State from March 25-28.
The 2019-20 season was a historic one for the Owls, with the team earning a program-high No. 5 ranking last February and capturing its 25th-straight NIWFA Team Title. The team also swept the weapon titles for the first time since 2015 and the individual titles for the first time since 2014, with Kennedy Lovelace earning the foil title, Margherita Calderaro earning the epee title, and Zoe Turner earning the sabre title. Temple also qualified five fencers for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009.
Temple lost five seniors from last year's squad, signing six recruits to the 2020-21 roster. Seniors Malia Hee and Kerry Plunkett finished their careers with 235 sabre wins each, tying to set the program record, while Lovelace set the all-time foil wins record (243).Â
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Players Mentioned
Epee
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
/ Women's Fencing
Foil
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
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