Tenth-Ranked Fencing Beats Eighth-Ranked Penn State; Goes 4-1 at Penn State Invitational

Saturday, January 16

University Park, Pa.

All Day

Temple University

Penn State Invitational (Penn State, UNC, Columbia, Yale, Haverford)

Tenth-Ranked Fencing Beats Eighth-Ranked Penn State; Goes 4-1 at Penn State Invitational

1.16.16 | Women's Fencing

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - In its first dual meets of the spring semester, 10th-ranked Temple fencing made an impressive showing at Penn State Invitational with a record of 4-1 including an 18-9 win over host and #8 Penn State.

The Owls' only loss of the day came in their final match and was by a narrow margin of 15-12 to #2 Columbia. Temple's wins in addition to Penn State were 21-6 against Yale, 20-7 over UNC and 22-5 versus Haverford.

Temple's epee squad was undefeated at the meet, recording a 7-2 win against #2 Columbia.

"It was an excellent result for us today," said Temple head coach Nikki Franke, "but of course you're never satisfied," she added, referring to the narrow Columbia loss. "If a couple of 5-4 bouts go the other way against Columbia, we win that match. But to be that close against the #2 team shows where we are. Epee really had a strong day and there were a couple really standout performances on the team as a whole. It was a productive trip to Happy Valley."

Junior epeeist Alexandra Keft had an impressive outing, going 11-1 overall with perfect 3-0 performances against both #8 Penn State and #2 Columbia.

Teammate and sophomore Safa Ibrahim finished at 11-3 overall, fencing the most bouts of any Owl on the day. She was a perfect 3-0 against #2 Columbia, UNC and Haverford, and went 2-1 against #8 Penn State.

Keft recorded a 5-3 win against Penn State All-American Jess Radanovich. Epee squad leader and senior Jessica Hall also won against Radanovich, going 2-1 against Penn State overall.

The foil squad started the day going 9-0 against Yale, recording the Owls' only perfect squad mark of the meet, and then went 8-1 against UNC. The epee squad won 7-2 against Yale and was nearly perfect with an 8-1 record against UNC. Both foil and epee won 7-2 against Haverford and 7-2 against #8 Penn State. The top finish for the sabre squad came against Haverford when they won 8-1.

Senior foiliest Fatima Largaespada was another of the Owls' top finishers for the day at 10-2, which included a 3-0 mark against #8 Penn State. Teammate Miranda Litzinger was also 3-0 against the Lions, and went 9-3 overall. Freshman foilist Auset Muhammad had limited bouts, but made the most of them, going 3-0.

For the sabre squad, senior Petra Khan finished at 7-4 while freshmen Jessica Rockford and Blessing Olaode both had strong meets, finishing at 5-2 and 4-0, respectively.

Next up for Temple is the Philadelphia Invitational hosted by Penn, set for Saturday, Jan. 23. The Owls will be fencing against Cornell, #5 Northwestern, #9 Penn, Johns Hopkins and Duke.

#10 Temple def. Yale, 21-6
Sabre: 5-4
Foil: 9-0
Epee: 7-2

#10 Temple def. UNC, 20-7
Sabre: 6-3
Foil: 6-3
Epee: 8-1

#10 Temple def. Haverford: 22-5
Sabre: 8-1
Foil: 8-1
Epee: 6-3

#10 Temple def. #8 Penn State, 18-9
Sabre: 4-5
Foil: 7-2
Epee: 7-2

#10 Temple def. by Columbia, 15-12
Sabre: 4-5
Foil: 1-8
Epee: 7-2