Here's a viewer's guide for fans attending Saturday's matches at the Notre Dame Duals (in general, for any given round it's a good strategy to catch a few sabre bouts first, as they are fast-moving and finish well before foil and epee):
Round 1 (8:00 a.m.) – be sure to catch the ND women vs. Stanford (marquee bouts: Eva Jellison vs. ND's Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett, all of them top-10 finishes at the '08 NCAAs) ... some quality matchups also could be found in the Air Force vs. UC San Diego women's bouts.
Round 2 (9:00 a.m.) – the top women's bouts likely will be in the Stanford vs Wayne State match, while ND vs. the UCSD men also could produce some competitive results (check out sabre and foil, as the Irish typically send out Alll-America-level fencers in each bout of those weapons).
Round 3 (10:00 a.m.) – the women's matches between ND-Air Force (don't miss ND epee sisters Kelley and Courtney Hurley) and Wayne State-UCSD should be worth a look.
Round 4 (11:00 a.m.) – the Stanford and Air Force women will meet in a key matchup of West Region rivals ... also check out the ND women vs. UCSD (ND boasts a potent foil duo of Adi Nott and Hayley Reese).
Round 5 (noon) – another key West Region matchup will pit the Stanford women vs. UCSD.
Round 6 (1:00 p.m.) – the 3rd-ranked Ohio State men will be competing in rounds 6-10, starting with this slot vs. Florida's club team (foilist Andras Horanyi is the two-time NCAA champion while sabreist Mike Momtselidze was the '08 NCAA runner-up) ... Stanford and UCSD will face off again, this time in men's bouts (be sure to catch Stanford epeeist Clayton Kenney and sabreist Teddy Levitt) ... during any free moments in rounds 6-10, don't miss the chance to watch Wayne State men's epeeists Slava Zingerman (two-time NCAA champ) and his All-America teammate Mykhaylo Mazur.
Round 7 (2:00 p.m.) – top men's matchups will include Ohio State vs. UCSD and Stanford vs. Air Force (Falcons epeeist Peter French placed 6th at the '06 NCAAs).
Round 8 (3:00 p.m.) – the Air Force men will take on their regional rival UCSD, which is led by foilist Ben Dorn and sabreist Bryan Kim.
Round 9 (4:00 p.m.) – split your time between two elite men's matchups: ND-Air Force (key matchup: Notre Dame's Karol Kostka vs. French) and OSU-Stanford.
Round 10 (5:00 p.m.) – OSU's final match of the tournament will be versus Air Force (men) ... this also would be a good time to see WSU's Zingerman, in action vs. Stanford's Kenney.