CollegeFencing360.com

By Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)

Saturday's women's foil title bout at the Penn State Max Garret Open featured a rematch of the final in the 2009 NCAAs (also held at PSU) – with Penn State senior Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.) again besting Notre Dame junior Hayley Reese (Crestwood, Ky.), 15-6.

  

Penn State senior (jr.-eligibility) Doris Willette (left) repeated as the women's foil champion at the Penn State Open.

Willette – a two-time NCAA champion (also '07) and member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team – earned the #4 seed after the pool bouts (56-fencer field) and followed with a close win over Ohio State sophomore Allison Henvick (San Francisco, Calif.), in the direct-elimination (15-12; round-of-16). Her path to the title also included a 15-10 quarterfinal vs. Temple freshman Mikayla Varadi (Beaverton, Ore.) and a dominating win (15-1) over Ohio State junior Oksana Dmytruk (Kiev, Ukraine), who was the 2007 NCAA runner-up and placed 3rd at the '08 NCAAs. Willette then went on to defeat Reese and win the Penn State Open for the second straight year.

Doris Willette and ND's Hayley Reese met at Penn State eight months earlier, in the NCAA title bout (pictured; photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360).

Reese – a two-time All-American who placed 11th at the 2008 NCAAs – had a strong showing in her pool bouts, earning the #2 seed. She then surrendered a total of only 17 touches in the first three DE rounds: 15-5 vs. Duke sophmore Dana Rosen (Mars, Pa.); 15-8 vs. Princeton freshman Brianna Martin (Short Hills, N.J.); and 15-4 vs. Ohio State senior Holly McKibben (Columbos, Ohio) in the semifinals. Reese again improved on her finish at the Penn State Open, after placing 14th at the event in 2007 and 9th in '08.

Ohio State's Oksana Dmytruk (left) earned the top seed, after a strong showing in her pool bouts.

Despite her 14-point loss to Willette, Dmytruk turned in a strong day that included earning the top seed after her pool bouts. The Ukranian then survived a 9-6 defensive battle vs. Notre Dame freshman Grace Hartman (St. Paul, Minn.) and moved in to the semifinals thanks to a 15-6 win over Yale sophomore Katherine Pitt (New York, N.Y.), who earned All-America honors with her 8th-place finish at the '09 NCAAs (Pitt finished 12th at the 2008 PSU Open).

Ohio State's Holly McKibben (left)

McKibben – who placed 11th at the 2007 PSU Open (32nd in '06) – was seeded 11th after the pools but survived a 12-11 bout vs. the #6 seed, Northwestern sophomore Camille Provencal (St. Paul, Minn.), in the round-of-16. She then defeated another Wildcats fencer, senior Meredith Baskies (#14 seed; Lynnfield, Mass.) in a 15-10 quarterfinal before losing to Reese in the semifinals.

The four other DE bouts (round-of-16) were as follows: Yale's Pitt defeated 8th-seeded Northwestern freshman Dayana Sarkisova (Grand Rapids, Mich.) in a 15-10 bout ... Temple's Varadi posted a 1-touch win (13-12) over the #5 seed, ND sophomore Darsie Malynn (Grapevine, Texas) ... Northwestern's Baskies had a comfortable 15-7 victory over teammate Devynn Patterson (#3 seed; soph.; Seattle, Wash.), who narrowly missed All-Amerrica honors at the 2009 NCAAs (13th) ... 

... Princeton's Martin advanced with a 15-10 win over Harvard sophomore Shelby MacLeod (#10 seed; Sturbridge, Mass.), who placed 17th at the '09 NCAAs.

Princeton's Brianna Martin (left) could emerge as one of college fencing's top young women's foilists.

Three of the Northwestern fencers had competed previously at the Penn State Open, with Baskies placing 22nd in 2007 (30th in '06), Provencal 11th in '08 and Patterson 15th in '08.

Princeton's Andrea Oliva (left), pictured during the 2009 NCAAs (photo by Pete LaFleur/CF360).

Temple senior All-American Melissa Parker – who placed 10th at the '09 NCAAs – had a rough showing in her pool bouts, finishing 32nd. Three other fencers who competed at the 2009 NCAAs were among the women's foil participants at the '09 PSU Open: Princeton sophomores Andrea Oliva (21st) and Lucilee Jarry (26th), and OSU senior Lindsay Knauer (23rd) – who finished atop the women's foil standings at the 2007 Penn State Open 

A couple top college women's foilists did not compete at the 2009 Penn State Open: Columbia junior and two-time All-American Nicole Ross (5th at '09 NCAAs), NYU junior Sophie Ciaravino (11th at '09 NCAAs), and UC San Diego senior Pilar Alicea (12th at '09 NCAAs).

  

Northwestern newcomer Dayana Sarkisova (left) 

Several of the fencers mentioned above currently hold top-25 status in the U.S. Fencing Association's national rankings for U.S. senior-level women's foilists: Willette (4th), Ross (8th), Reese (16th), Sariskova (18th), Parker (21st) and Malynn (25th).

2009 Penn State Max Garret Open – Women's Foil 

Notre Dame junior Hayley Reese (left)

FINAL

(4) Doris Willette (Penn State) defeated (2) Hayley Reese (Notre Dame) ... 15-6

SEMIFINALS
(4) Willette (PSU) def. (1) Oksana Dmytruk (Ohio State) ... 15-1
(2) Reese (ND) def. (11) Holly McKibben (OSU) ... 15-4

THIRD-PLACE BOUT
(1) Dmytruk (OSU) def. (11) McKibben (OSU) ... 15-3

Ohio State junior Oksana Dmytruk (left)

Northwestern's Meredith Baskies (left)

QUARTERFINALS
(1) Dmytruk (OSU) def. (9) Katherine Pitt (Yale) ... 15-6
(4) Willette (PSU) def. (12) Mikayla Varadi (Temple) ... 15-10
(11) McKibben (OSU) def. (14) Meredith Baskies (NW) ... 15-10
(2) Reese (ND) def. (7) Brianna Martin (Princeton) .. 15-8

ROUND-OF-16
(1) Dmytruk (OSU) def. (16) Grace Hartman (ND) ... 9-6
(9) Pitt (Yale) def. (8) Dayana Sarkisova (Northwestern) ... 15-10
(12) Varadi (TEM) def. (5) Darsie Malynn (ND) ... 13-12
(4) Willette (PSU) def. (13) Allison Henvick (OSU) ... 15-12

Northwestern's Devynn Patterson (left)

(14) Baskies (NW) def. (3) Devynn Patterson (NW) ... 15-7
(11) McKibben (OSU) def. (6) Camille Provencal (NW) ... 12-11
(7) Martin (PRIN) def. (10) Shelby MacLeod (HARV) ... 15-10
(2) Reese (ND) def. (15) Dana Rosen (Duke) ... 15-5

2009 Penn State Open – Women's Foil Final Standings
1. Doris WILLETTE  (Penn State)
2. Hayley REESE  (Notre Dame)
3. Oksana DMYTRUK  (Ohio State) 4. Holly MCKIBBEN  (Ohio State)

Yale's Katherine Pitt (left)

5. Brianna MARTIN  (Princeton)
6. Katherine PITT  (Yale) 7. Mikayla VARADI  (Temple) 8. Meredith BASKIES  (Northwestern)

Northwestern's Camille Provencal (left)

9. Devynn PATTERSON  (Northwestern) 10. Darsie MALYNN  (Notre Dame) 11. Camille PROVENCAL  (Northwestern) 12. Dayana SARKISOVA  (Northwestern) 13. Shelby MACLEOD  (Harvard) 14. Allison HENVICK  (Ohio State)
15. Dana ROSEN  (Duke)
16. Grace HARTMAN  (Notre Dame)

Harvard's Shelby Macleod (left)

Failed to reach round-of-16 (DE)

17. Rozanne ROTHENBERG  (Princeton)
18. Olivia SHEPARD  (Duke)
19. Radmila SARKISOVA  (Notre Dame) 20. Alyssa LOMUSCIO  (Temple) 21. Andrea OLIVA  (Princeton)
22. Rebecca GROHMAN  (Northwestern) 23. Lindsay KNAUER  (Ohio State)
24. Cara TAGGERSELL  (Temple)
25. Irisa CHEN  (Northwestern)

Duke's Dana Rosen (left)

26. Lucille JARRY  (Princeton)
27. Lisa SACHS  (Northwestern)
28. Mary-Lynee CHEN-CONTINO  (North Carolina) 29. Emily BRUHL  (Northwestern) 30. Kathy CHOU  (Harvard)
31. Mina ZARGHAM  (Princeton)
32. Melissa PARKER  (Temple)
33. Karen PETSCHE  (Princeton)
34. Casey DIETRICH  (Penn State)
35. Danielle LITTLE  (Penn State)
36. Ginny SISKIDIS  (Fairleigh Dickinson)
37. Sarita MIZIN  (Penn State)
38. Jillian LIU  (Yale)
39. Phenix MESSERSMITH  (Notre Dame)
40. Keara MAGERAS  (Duke)

Ohio State's Allison Henvick (left)

41. Katie HEINZEN  (Notre Dame) 42. Lauren BAUCH  (Penn State)
43. Zoe EGELMAN  (Yale)
44. Alexandra ARKIN  (Northwestern) 45. Danielle JONES  (Temple) 46. Kathryn SHAFFER  (Penn State)
47. Katie WILLIAMSON  (North Carolina) 48. Brittany AXWORTHY  (Penn State club)
49. Christina LABARGE  (Notre Dame) 50. Ann GONG  (Princeton)
51. Madeline BOYER  (Penn State)
51. Amanda BOWE  (Penn State club team)
53. Julia SILVA  (Fairleigh Dickinson)
53. Audrey PRADO  (Fairleigh Dickinson)
55. Richelle CARROLL  (Penn State club team)
56. Emily DOUGHERTY  (Penn State)