2014 Week-1 CF360 Fencing Awards | CF360 Weekly Fencing Awards Archive (2009-13)
St. John's Women's Epeeist isis Washington Named CF360 National Fencer of the Week;
11 others among second 2014 group of Primetime Performers
… Harvard sabre freshman Adrienne Jarocki tabbed for Rookie of the Week.
RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2014 CONTACT: Pete LaFleur (editor@collegefencing360.com)
St. John's junior women's epeeist Isis Washington (Parsippany, N.J.) has been named the national fencer of the week for Jan. 20-26, 2014, as presented by CollegeFencing360.com (CF360). Washington headlines a group of 12 CF360 Primetime Performers of the Week for college fencing, for the final week of January. Harvard women's sabre freshman Adrienne Jarocki (Middle Village, N.Y.) has been selected by CF360men as the second 2014 national rookie of the week.
WASHINGTON (pictured at right) went 14-1 at both the NYU Invitational and the St. John's Invitational, while taking on an assortment of top opponents. The junior racked up a +89 total-points differential, with both of her losses coming down to the final touch (4-5). Washington combined with NCAA tournament veterans Alina Ferdman and Zsofia Fath in leading a St. John's women's epee squad that won nearly 80% of its bouts (70-20) during the weekend. Over the course of the weekend, Washington – who placed 13th at the 2013 Northeast Regional but has yet to fence in the NCAAs – beat top veterans such as Emma Vaggo and Nina Van Loon (Harvard), Ashley Severson and Nicole Ameli (Notre Dame), and Diane Tsinis of Columbia – plus several of college fencing's top newcomers.
JAROCKI went 13-2 in the first elite college dual-meet tournament of her career, facing opponents from five to top-10 teams at the St. John's Invitational. Her sweep of Penn State, including a win over two-time All-Ameican Nicole Glon, helped provide the margin of victory in the Crimson's 15-12 win over the 4th-ranked Nittany Lions.
The 10 fencers who round out this week's installment of College Fencing Primetime Performers include: Temple fr. epeeist Rachael Clark (Boxford, Mass.) … Sacred Heart jr. epeeist Megan Floyd (Media, Pa.) … MIT sabre fr. Benjamin Lin (Beaverton, Ore.) … Columbia sabre so.Geoffrey Loss (Laguna Beach, Calif.) … Brandeis so. foilist Caroline Mattos (Cumberland, R.I.) … Ohio State sr. epeeist Caroline Piasecka (Oslo, Norway) … Columbia sr.jr. women's foilist Nzinga Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.) … Penn State fr. epeeist Conor Shepard (Colleyville, Texas) … Brown sabre sr. Caitlin Taylor (Elk Grove, Calif.) … and Cornell sr. foilist April Whitney (Washington Depot, Conn.).
The 12 honorees include four seniors, two juniors, two sophomore and four freshmen who quickly have made their presence known on the college fencing scene. Nine of the 13 are female fencers (three foil, four epee and two sabre), along with one men's epeeist and two men's sabre fencers. Three hail from New York hometowns and one is a foreign fencer (Norway) but the rest come from all over the country: California (2), Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas.
Notes for each honoree are included below, as are more action photos (head shots in right-sidebar). Note that situational factors often play a role in the CF360 Primetime awards, going beyond the simple won-loss records. Such factors include quality of opponents, contribution to team victories, clutch wins, success away from home, etc. Whenever possible, there also is also some form of balance from different events/teams (in other words, these are not simply the 12 "best" fencers from the past week).
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The Primetime Performer designation – also presented on sister sites CollegeSports360, CollegeSoccer360, CollegeBaseball360 and CollegeSoftball360 – seeks to recognize achievement based primarily on situational factors, and not solely on raw stats. Selection for the CF360 weekly awards are based on any/all of the following "primetime" criteria:
• In general, preference is given based on the quality of the opponent, contribution to team victory/success (when applicable, i.e. for top-10 teams), and situational factors involved in the fencer's accomplishments.
• Exhibited strong leadership and/or involved in clutch performances, match-winning bouts, noteworthy upsets, etc.
• Overcame adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).
• Bonus consideration is given for key performances away from team's home facility.
All photos courtesy of the respective schools or CF360.
College Fencing Primetime Performers of the Week #2
(Jan. 20-26, 2014 ... presented by CollegeFencing360.com)
Rachael Clark (Temple ... Women’s Epee ... Fr. ... Boxford, MA)
Megan Floyd (Sacred Heart ... Women’s Epee ... Jr. ... Media, PA)
* Adrienne Jarocki (Harvard ... Women’s Sabre ... Fr. ... Middle Village, NY)
Benjamin Lin (MIT ... Men’s Sabre ... Fr. ... Beaverton, OR)
Geoffrey Loss (Columbia ... Men’s Sabre ... So. ... Laguna Beach, CA)
Caroline Mattos (Brandeis... Women’s Foil ... So. … Cumberland, RI)
Caroline Piasecka (Ohio State … Women's Epee … Sr. … Oslo, Norway)
Nzinga Prescod (Columbia ... Women’s Foil ... Sr./Jr. ... Brooklyn, NY)
Conor Shepard (Penn State ... Men’s Epee ... Fr. ... Colleyville, TX)
Caitlin Taylor (Brown ... Women’s Sabre ... Sr. ... Elk Grove, CA)
* Isis Washington (St. John’s ... Women’s Epee ... Jr. ... Parsippany, NJ)
April Whitney (Cornell ... Women’s Foil ... Sr. ... Washington Depot, CT)
* – Washington is the CF360 National Fencer of the Week and Jarocki the Rookie of the Week
all photos courtesy of the respective schools
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RACHAEL CLARK
(Temple ... Women’s Epee ... Fr. ... Boxford, MA)
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Won all 12 of her bouts as part of Temple women's epee team went 41-13 at the Philadelphia Invitational, helping the 9th-ranked Owls go 6-0 with wins over #7 Northwestern (15-12), host #8 U-Penn (16-11) and a Cornell team that is on the fringe of the top-10 (21-6) … compiled a +33 in total-point indicators, including a pair of 5-0 wins and three by a 5-1 count … her sweep of Penn included a pair of overtime/priority victories: 3-2 vs. two-time NCAA entrant Gabby Foor and 2-1 vs. top newcomer Maria Trumble (plus 5-3 vs. another talented freshman, Aleina Edwards) … won both of her bouts vs. Northwestern, including a 5-4 battle vs. two-time All-American Dina Bazarbayeva (also 5-1 vs. Mandeep Bhinder) … her sweep of Cornell included a 5-3 win over Olivia Weller … product of Bishop Fenwick High School and the Vivo Fencing Club.
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MEGAN FLOYD
(Sacred Heart ... Women’s Epee ... Jr. ... Media, PA)
Veteran epeeist and NCAA Tournament hopeful who turned in a 13-2 day at the Philadelphia Invitational, while bouting against fencers from #7 Northwestern, host #8 U-Penn. Duke, North Carolina and Fairleigh Dickinson … her sweep vs. Northwestern (her Pioneer teammates were only 8-24 vs. the 'Cats) included 5-4 win over 2012 NCAA entrant Courtney Dumas, plus victories over Mandeep Bhinder (5-1) and Juliana Barrett (5-3) … had two of her team's seven wins vs. host Penn, including 5-1 bout vs. 2013 NCAA Regional entrant Srey Beaulac … one of her two losses came vs. two-time NCAA entrant Gabby Foor of Penn (4-5) … her three wins over UNC were huge, boosting Pioneers women to the 14-13 win … nearly went 15-0, with both of her losses coming in 5-4 bouts (vs. Foor and Duke's Isabella Barna, a 2013 NCAA Regional entrant) … allowed only six touches in her sweep of FDU … product of Strath Haven High School.
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ADRIENNE JAROCKI
(Harvard ... Women’s Sabre ... Fr. ... Middle Village, NY)
Opened 2014 season by winning 13 of her 15 bouts at the St. John's Invitational, while facing several established veterans but also some fellow top newcomers to the college scene … finished +29 in total-point indicators, with four 5-0 wins (one 5-1) countered by four victories that went to the final touch (5-4) … posted a couple of wins in 16-11 showdown victory vs. #3 Notre Dame, losing 5-1 vs. All-American Joanna Thill … delivered huge sweep that helped provide the margin of victory (15-12) vs. #4 Penn State, highlighted by 5-4 win over two-time All-American Nicole Glon (5-4 vs. 2013 Regional entrant Elizabeth Rapp) … key part of Harvard women's sabre squad that went 33-12 at St. John's, nearly matching the combined total of the wins from the Crimson women's foilists and epeeists (36) … beat Ohio State's pair of freshman phenoms – Kimberly Young and Alexa Antipas (both 5-4) – to help Harvard nearly hand Ohio State women what would have been their only loss of the weekend (OSU won 14-13), which included the NYU Invitational the previous day (Young went 25-8 and Antipas 24-9 during the two-day stretch) … suffered a 3-5 loss vs. OSU veteran Celine Merza (2013 NCAA entrant) … rolled through #6 Columbia's depleted sabre squad, allowing only one touch spanning the three bouts … her sweep of the sabre trio from #10 St. John's nearly pushed Harvard to the team win (13-14), allowing only five touches in her three bouts vs. the Red Storm … product of the USA Junior National Team ... graduated from the Bronx High School of Science.
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BENJAMIN LIN (MIT ... Men’s Sabre ... Fr. ... Beaverton, OR)
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Talented newcomer who won all 15 of his bouts at the NFC (Northwest Fencing Conference) #2 meet, held at Boston College – including three huge wins that helped knock off 9th-ranked Brown, 15-12 (the Bears were in the national top-0 for the first time in program history) … allowed only five touches in his sweep of Brown, including a 5-2 bout vs. Nick Deak (who is 22-3 in 2013-14 NFC action) … posted easy wins over Brown's other two sabre entrants, Alex Palabrica (5-1) and Denis Dukhvalov (5-2), with both of them currently 23-6 in NFC bouts) … allowed only four touches in his three-bout sweep of Vassar and seven vs.host BC (both 16-11 team wins for MIT) … edged BCs Devin Midley (who is 10-5 in NFC bouts) by a 5-4 score … the team's 5-0 record at the NFC #2 meet (including wins over non-varsity clubs Dartmouth and Tufts) left MIT one win shy of the conference lead (Brown is done with nine wins, as are Brandeis and MIT with eight each; Sacred Heart has four wins but will be competing at NFC #3, Feb. 8 at UNH) … product of the Oregon Fencing Alliance sabre academy that has yielded numerous elite fencers in recent years (including Olympic medalists/former NCAA women's sabre champions Mariel Zagunis and Becca Ward)…graduated from Catlin Gabel School.
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GEOFFREY LOSS
(Columbia ... Men’s Sabre ... So. ... Laguna Beach, CA)
Played lead role in helping top-ranked Columbia men likely retain that spot atop the polls, after team's 9-1 week in action at NYU Invitational and St. John's Invitational (all but two of those results came vs. top-10 opponents) … turned in best weekend record (18-3) on sabre squad fronted by All-Americans Will Spear and Michael Josephs, as the Lions sabre unit won nearly 70 percent of its bouts (team-best 62-28) … part of sabre squad that beat nine of its 11 opponents (4-5 vs. North Carolina and Penn State), although he did not face UNC … fenced against seven of those opponents and had a winning record against all except the trio from #5 Harvard (1-2), losing vs. NCAA tournament veterans Eric Arzoian (3-5) and Alex. Ryjik (2-5), with Lions still winning 18-9 … compiled a +46 in total-points indicators during the week (two 5-0 wins, three 5-1; three 5-4) … did not fence vs. UNC, Wayne State and Ohio State (at StJ, after facing the Buckeyes at NYU) … won all nine of his bouts at NYU before going 9-3 amidst the elite field at St. John's … swept Notre Dame in 17-10 win over the #4 Irish at NYU, including 5-3 vs. two-time All-American Kevin Hassett and 5-1 vs. 2013 NCAA entrant John Hallsten … allowed only six touches in sweep vs. #6 Ohio State (21-6 team win), including 5-3 bout vs. two-time NCAA entrant Rhys Douglas (2011 All-American) … won five of his six bouts in pair of wins over #7 St. John's (19-8; 14-13), with lone loss coming 5-4 vs. newcomer Roman Sydorenko at the StJ Invitational … joined fellow sophomore Adam Mathieu (foil) as only Columbia fencers to go 3-0 in showdown vs. #2 Penn State, as Nittany Lions pulled out the 14-13 … posted 5-2 win vs. PSU three-time Adrian Bak (2013 NCAA semifinalist), also winning 5-0 vs. Kaito Streets and 5-4 vs. top newcomer Adam Lewicki … reprised his sweep of Notre Dame in 16-11 Sunday win over the Irish (5-2 vs. Hassett).
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CAROLINE MATTOS
(Brandeis... Women’s Foil ... So. … Cumberland, RI)
2013 NCAA entrant who could be in the mix for the NCAAs again in 2014 … went 13-2 at the NFC (Northeast Fencing Conference) #2 meet, held at Boston College, giving her an overall record of 22-3 in NFC bouts during the 2013-14 season (+74 in total-point indicators differential) … turned in impressive sweep of the Brown women's foilists (the Bears women won 16-11 overall), highlighted by victories over the conference leaders: 5-4 vs. NCAA tournament veteran Kathryn Hawrot (24-3/+93 in the NFC for 20-13) and 5-2 vs. Audrey Lee, who lost only one other NFC bout this season (24-2; +92) … went 10-1 vs. varsity opponents during the NFC #2 meet (plus 3-1 vs. non-varsity club teams) … swept Tufts in 21-6 team win while winning both of her bouts vs. Vassar (19-8) and contributing pair of crucial wins in 14-13 thriller vs. host BC … product of La Salle Academy.
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CAROLINE PIASECKA
(Ohio State … Women's Epee … Sr. … Oslo, Norway)
Three-time NCAA participant (2012 All-American) who stepped up to the challenge during long weekend in New York City, going 8-1 at the NYU Invitational and then 9-1 at the elite St. John's Invitational … her clutch wins – include 4-0 vs. the elite trio from St. John's – helped overcome the absence of departed epee veterans Katarzyna Dabrowa (three-time All-American; 2012 NCAA champion) and Tasha Domashovetz – as 5th-ranked Ohio State women impressively went 11-0 during the busy weekend … led epee squad that won at least four bouts in all 11 dual meets … did not fence against Yale, at NYU … allowed only three touches in pair of wins over NYU … beat both St. John's sr. NCAA tournament veterans in 19-8 win over the #10 Red Storm (at NYU): 5-4 vs. two-time All-American Alina Ferdman and 3-2 in defensive battle vs. Zsofia Fath … the next day in Queens, she subbed in to beat Ferdman again (5-4) and added a 5-4 win over Isis Washington to cap the round (OSU won 17-10) … Washington won nearly every other bout (28-1) she fenced during the weekend … subbed in for the final Saturday bout vs. #6 Columbia and won 5-2 vs. 2013 NCAA entrant Natalie Gegan (15-12 OSU win) … her only loss at NYU came as a sub vs. #7 Northwestern, 4-5 vs. 2012 NCAA entrant Courtney Dumas … closed day at NYU with sweep vs. regional rival #3 Notre Dame (15-12 team score), including 2-1 defensive stalemate vs. 2012 All-American Ashley Severson … contributed a win the next day in 14-13 thriller vs. the Irish, adding two more wins in yet another 14-13 battle (vs. #6 Columbia; 4-3 vs. two-time NCAA entrant Diane Tsinis, lost 1-5 vs. top newcomer Mason Speta) … won both her bouts to produce a third straight 14-13 win (vs. #2 Harvard), including another 2-1 bout (vs. two-time NCAA entrant Emma Vaggo) … also went 2-0 in 18-9 win over #4 Penn State (3-2 vs. freshman Jessie Radanovich, who went 15-0 two weeks earlier at the Penn State Invitational.
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NZINGHA PRESCOD
(Columbia ... Women’s Foil ... Sr./Jr. ... Brooklyn, NY)
2012 Olympian who went 28-2 spanning top events at NYU (14-1) and St. John's (14-1), including a pair of one-touch wins (5-4; 4-3) vs. her Olympic teammate Lee Kiefer, a sophomore at Notre Dame who won the 2012 NCAA women's foil title (Prescod has yet to compete in the NCAAs, due to international event conflicts) … finished the weekend +79 in total-point indicators, with five 5-0 wins and six by a 5-1 score (six of her wins came by one touch) … combined with the elite sophomore duo of Jackie Dubrovic (2013 NCAA runner-up) and Margaret Lu to go 38-7 (84%) in their foil bouts during both days (they outscored all 10 opponents) … lost her first bout of the weekend (4-5 vs. Northwestern so. Jen Yamin, in 16-11 win over the #7 'Cats) before going 28-1 the rest of the way … her sweep in 16-11 win over #3 Notre Dame (at NYU) included 5-0 win over 2013 NCAA semifinals Madi Zeiss (plus the 4-3 win over Kiefer) … her sweep vs. #5 Ohio State was not enough to prevent 15-12 OSU win (at NYU), with wins over two-time NCAA semifinalist Mona Shaito (5-2) along with top newcomers Allana Goldie (5-4) and Eleanor Harvey (5-3) … allowed only four touches in sweep of Wayne State, then closed her day at NYU with three more wins (in 14-13 thriller vs. #10 St. John's; 5-2 vs. All-American Marta Hausman) … reprised that sweep the next morning, vs. the home standing Red Storm, allowing only two touches in the sweep (5-0 vs. Hausman; 15-12 team win) … yielded only five touches in team's 15-12 win over #2 Harvard (5-2 vs. 2011 NCAA champ Alex Kiefer) … beat OSU's Harvey (5-0) and Shaito (5-3) again but was upset by Goldie (2-5), in 13-14 loss to the Buckeyes … closed with sweeps in Columbia's 15-12 wins vs. Notre Dame (5-4 vs. both Keifer and Zeiss; 15-12 team win) and #4 Penn State, besting the PSU All-America duo of Alina Antokhina (5-1) and Clarisse Luminet (5-3) … graduated from Stuyvesant High School.
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CONOR SHEPARD (Penn State ... Men’s Epee ... Fr. ... Colleyville, TX)
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After missing the Penn State Invitational, returned to action at the St. John's Invitational, where he provided big boost to PSU men's epee squad that must replace both of its NCAA entrants from 2013 … his 11-4 record vs. opponents from five top-10 teams included key pair of wins vs. top-ranked Columbia, with Penn State's 14-13 win handing the Lions their only loss so far in 2013-14 (22-1) … his wins over Columbia included a 5-1 bout vs. 2013 Regional entrant Jake Hoyle ... nearly pulled off the sweep vs. Columbia but loss the final touch vs. All-American Brian Ro, 4-5 … his 11 victories accounted for more than half of the wins (20-25) posted by the Penn State men's epee team during the action at St. John's … posted a pair of wins (plus another 5-4 loss) in PSU's 17-10 win over the host #7 Red Storm …his sweep vs. #6 Ohio State – including 5-4 vs. 2012 NCAA semifinalist Kristian Boyadzhiev – led PSU's easy 21-6 win … half of his four losses came vs. #5 Harvard, including 3-5 vs. two-time All-American Mike Raynis … his sweep of the Notre Dame epeeists (5-4 vs. 2013 NCAA entrant Garrett McGrath) was not enough to prevent the #4 Irish from beating the Nittany Lions, 15-12.
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CAITLIN TAYLOR
(Brown ... Women’s Sabre ... Sr. ... Elk Grove, CA)
Former NCAA qualifier (2011) who rattled off 20 victories in 20 bouts while leading Brown women to 6-1 day at the NFC (Northeast Fencing Conference) Meet #2, lifting the Bears atop the NFC standings with 11 wins (Brandeis finished with 10 while Sacred Heart, which still has to fence in NFC #3, has five wins) … went 24-0 overall in her 2013-14 NFC bouts, with a +96 total-points differential (4.0 per bout) … led Brown women's sabre squad that went 36-9 vs. varsity opponents during the NFC #2 … allowed only five touches in her sweep of rival Brandeis, including 5-3 win over Ashley Jean (who went 22-5 in 2013-14 NFC bouts) and 5-1 vs. Nina Sayles (22-5; also 5-1 vs. Jackie Hammond) … yielded only six touches in her there bouts during tight matchup vs. host Boston College (15-12) … helped dispatch of MIT (24-3) with a 5-0 win and another by a 5-1 margin, plus 5-4 battle vs. Cordelia Avery (who went 26-5 in her NFC bouts during 2013-14) … allowed only four touches in three-bout sweep vs. Vassar (21-6) … posted two wins (5-1, 5-2) in team's 13-14 upset loss vs. Tufts … competed in the 2011 and '13 Fencing World Championships, as member of Australian National Team … graduate of Franklin High School.
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ISIS WASHINGTON
(St. John’s ... Women’s Epee ... Jr. ... Parsippany, NY)
Fashioned a breakout weekend during dual-meet invitationals at NYU and at home, going 14-1 in each event while taking on an assortment of top opponents … racked up a +89 total-points differential, with both of her losses coming down to the final touch (4-5; four 5-0 wins, four 5-1) … went 7-2 in one-touch bouts … combined with NCAA tournament veterans Alina Ferdman and Zsofia Fath in leading St. John's women's epee squad that won nearly 80% of its bouts (70-20) during the weekend … the Red Storm women's epeeists actually totaled six more wins than the foilists and epeeists combined (64-116; 36%), with the resulting team results yielding only a 2-3 record each day … allowed only five touches in her sweep of Wayne State, followed by another sweep in team's loss to #5 Ohio State (the other Red Storm fencers were only 5-19 vs. OSU, at NYU) … yielded only six touches in 3-0 showing vs. host NYU … beat Notre Dame 2012 All-Americans Ashley Severson (5-1) and Nicole Ameli (5-4) but was tripped up by so. Catherine Lee (4-5; #4 ND won 16-11) … finished at NYU with her fourth sweep of the day, but #6 Columbia won 14-13 (she beat two-time NCAA entrant Diane Tsinis 5-3) … opened the next day at home, again vs. Columbia, and had another sweep in team's 15-12 loss (5-4 vs. Tsinis, plus 5-2 vs. Mason Speta and 5-1 vs. another top newcomer, Vivian Rand) … dropped 4-5 bout vs. Ohio State All-American Carolina Piasecka (OSU won, 17-10) … allowed seven touches in her sweep of Penn State, helping Red Storm knock off the #4 Nittany Lions (16-11) … kept rolling in sweep off Notre Dame (5-3 vs. Ameli; Severson did not compete) but Irish still won, 16-11 … closed the weekend with yet another 3-0 record, with each win ending up being huge as St. John's upset #2 Harvard 14-13 (she won 5-4 vs. two-time NCAA entrant Emma Vaggo and 5-0 vs. All-American Nina Van Loon).
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APRIL WHITNEY
(Cornell ... Women’s Foil ... Sr. ... Washington Depot, CT)
Three-time NCAA entrant whose 11-2 showing at the Philadelphia Invitational (held at #8 U-Penn) led a 34-11 day for the Cornell women's foilists (the Big Red epee and sabre fencers combined for only 39 wins between them) … finished a couple touches shy of an unbeaten record, with her losses coming by scores of 5-4 and 5-3 … posted a pair of wins in team's 15-12 victory over North Carolina … her sweep led the way in 16-11 win over Duke, highlighted by a rare 2-1 defensive battle (vs. senior Anisha Mukherjee, a 2013 NCAA Regional entrant) … also swept the foilists from #7 Northwestern (5-4 vs. Mikela Goldstein), accounting for one-third of Cornell's total wins in the 18-9 loss … had two wins (the rest of the Big Red went 4-20) vs. #9 Temple, including 5-3 bout vs. 2013 NCAA entrant Epiphany Georgies and 5-4 win over 2013 Regional qualifier Demi Antipas … honed her fencing at The Masters School, the Fencers Club and Empire United Fencing … could play key role in Cornell cracking the national top-10 for the first time in program history (the Big Red received the 12th-most votes in the first polling of 2014).