Temple University Athletics
Thursday, March 24
Waltham, Mass. (Brandeis)
All Day
Temple University
at
NCAA Championships
(L to R): Demi Antipas, Safa Ibrahim, Jessica Hall and Petra Khan
Four Fencers Prepare for NCAA Championships
3.23.16 | Women's Fencing
PHILADELPHIA - The NCAA Fencing Championships begin Thursday, March 24, and four Temple student-athletes will be representing the 10th-ranked Owls at the national meet.
Sophomore Safa Ibrahim will represent Temple in epee for a second year in a row, while three seniors are all making their first-ever NCAA appearances. Senior Demi Antipas (foil), senior Jessica Hall (epee) and senior Petra Khan (sabre) have all earned the right to make the trip to Waltham, Mass.
Brandeis University will host the championships, set for March 24-27 at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the non-advancing fencers being awarded a tie for third place.
Temple head coach Nikki Franke has taken many student-athletes to the national meet in her years with the Owls, but said it's special to have this group going this year.
"The fact that we have three seniors going for their first time, I'm so proud of these ladies. They've worked so hard, and after four years for this to be the final tournament for them is just very exciting. Two of them were recruited walk-ons for our team and ended up earning scholarships and now they're going to NCAA's. I think that says a lot for their character, how much work they've put in and in the faith they have in us as coaches and in the program."
Antipas is coming off a career-best second-place finish in foil at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional last weekend. She is the overall team captain this season as well as the foil squad leader, and earlier this season she tied for sixth at the Temple Open before placing sixth yet again at the Penn State Open. Antipas came close to earning a NCAA berth as a junior, placing seventh in foil at the regional meet.
Hall earned a career-best fourth-place finish in epee at the NCAA Regional two weeks ago. Currently serving as the epee squad leader for a second year in a row, Hall is also making her first-ever appearance at the championships. At the Elite Invitational on November 21st, Hall went 9-2 against competition that included two top-10 teams. She finished 7-3 at the Penn State Invitational, going 2-1 in a team win against #8 Penn State.
Making her second straight appearance in two years is Ibrahim, who is coming off a ninth-place finish in epee at the regional meet. She took 16th at last year's NCAA Championships after placing eighth at last year's regionals. Ibrahim placed second at this year's Temple Open just a week before taking the epee title at the Penn State Open. Her dual meet record for 2015-16 was an impressive 60-20 which included a 12-3 mark at the Penn State Invitational
After an injury kept her off the strip for much of last season, Khan returned strong and has earned her first-ever NCAA berth as a senior. She placed 14th in sabre at the NCAA Regional. Khan started the season by placing sixth in sabre at the Temple Open, and was ninth at the Penn State Open. Her 13-8 overall mark at the Northwestern Duals included a 2-1 record against #2 Notre Dame and another 2-1 performance in a sabre squad win vs. #6 Ohio State.
Having faced many of the opponents they'll see this week at other times during the season is a definite advantage for the Owls, and Franke said it should really help with the mental aspect of such a big meet.
"We just help them to be confident," she said. "Even though the seniors have never been there before, they're seniors. They have a lot of experience. Everyone that's at this tournament, we've seen this year. That's what's great about the strong schedule we had. We've seen these people before. I think that helps with our confidence and helps them stay calmer and not feel overwhelmed."
For more information about the championships, click HERE. To catch live coverage of the event, log in to ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app. The semifinals and finals, along with other championships highlights, will air on ESPNU at 2:30 p.m. ET time on April 6.
Video Preview
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Sophomore Safa Ibrahim will represent Temple in epee for a second year in a row, while three seniors are all making their first-ever NCAA appearances. Senior Demi Antipas (foil), senior Jessica Hall (epee) and senior Petra Khan (sabre) have all earned the right to make the trip to Waltham, Mass.
Brandeis University will host the championships, set for March 24-27 at the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center. Fencers will compete in a round-robin format of five-touch bouts. After the round-robin, the top-four finishers in each weapon will fence in semifinal 15-touch bouts, with the winners fencing to determine first and second places, and the non-advancing fencers being awarded a tie for third place.
Temple head coach Nikki Franke has taken many student-athletes to the national meet in her years with the Owls, but said it's special to have this group going this year.
"The fact that we have three seniors going for their first time, I'm so proud of these ladies. They've worked so hard, and after four years for this to be the final tournament for them is just very exciting. Two of them were recruited walk-ons for our team and ended up earning scholarships and now they're going to NCAA's. I think that says a lot for their character, how much work they've put in and in the faith they have in us as coaches and in the program."
Antipas is coming off a career-best second-place finish in foil at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional last weekend. She is the overall team captain this season as well as the foil squad leader, and earlier this season she tied for sixth at the Temple Open before placing sixth yet again at the Penn State Open. Antipas came close to earning a NCAA berth as a junior, placing seventh in foil at the regional meet.
Hall earned a career-best fourth-place finish in epee at the NCAA Regional two weeks ago. Currently serving as the epee squad leader for a second year in a row, Hall is also making her first-ever appearance at the championships. At the Elite Invitational on November 21st, Hall went 9-2 against competition that included two top-10 teams. She finished 7-3 at the Penn State Invitational, going 2-1 in a team win against #8 Penn State.
Making her second straight appearance in two years is Ibrahim, who is coming off a ninth-place finish in epee at the regional meet. She took 16th at last year's NCAA Championships after placing eighth at last year's regionals. Ibrahim placed second at this year's Temple Open just a week before taking the epee title at the Penn State Open. Her dual meet record for 2015-16 was an impressive 60-20 which included a 12-3 mark at the Penn State Invitational
After an injury kept her off the strip for much of last season, Khan returned strong and has earned her first-ever NCAA berth as a senior. She placed 14th in sabre at the NCAA Regional. Khan started the season by placing sixth in sabre at the Temple Open, and was ninth at the Penn State Open. Her 13-8 overall mark at the Northwestern Duals included a 2-1 record against #2 Notre Dame and another 2-1 performance in a sabre squad win vs. #6 Ohio State.
Having faced many of the opponents they'll see this week at other times during the season is a definite advantage for the Owls, and Franke said it should really help with the mental aspect of such a big meet.
"We just help them to be confident," she said. "Even though the seniors have never been there before, they're seniors. They have a lot of experience. Everyone that's at this tournament, we've seen this year. That's what's great about the strong schedule we had. We've seen these people before. I think that helps with our confidence and helps them stay calmer and not feel overwhelmed."
For more information about the championships, click HERE. To catch live coverage of the event, log in to ESPN3 or the WatchESPN app. The semifinals and finals, along with other championships highlights, will air on ESPNU at 2:30 p.m. ET time on April 6.
Video Preview
Â
Players Mentioned
Foil
/ Women's Fencing
Epee
/ Women's Fencing
Epee
/ Women's Fencing
Sabre
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