Feb. 7, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's women's fencing team will host the NU Duals II this weekend at Patten Gym in Evanston, Ill. The 27-4 Wildcats are ranked seventh in the country and are slated to take on eight different opponents on Saturday. The Wildcats' first match of the day begins at 8 .m. vs. Minnesota.
NU boasts a plethora of talent as all three weapons have 23 or more wins. The foil squad is an impressive 29-2 so far this season, which includes a win over top-ranked Notre Dame. The sabre squad is 23-8 and the foil team is 22-9.
Individually, junior foilist Jessica Florendo (Forest Hills, N.Y./The Dwight School) leads the team in wins with a 77-11 record. Freshman Sam Nemecek (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) has the highest winning percentage, winning 89.7 percent of her bouts. Her overall record is 70-8. Not to be outdone, senior Christina Wang (Milpitas, Calif./Castilleja) is 48-7 and ranks eighth on the career foil wins list with a 251-95 record.
Epéeist Sharon Sullivan (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) is 37-20 this season while teammate Sara Pecherek (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) is 21-12.
Senior Emily Pasternak (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) leads the sabre squad with 39 wins while junior Mai Vu (New York, N.Y./Bronx Science) is one behind at 38. Senior Morgan Engling (Dubuque, Iowa (Dubuque) is 20-4 this season.
Northwestern Saturday Schedule
9 a.m. Northwestern vs. Michigan State
10 a.m. Northwestern vs. Purdue
11 a.m. Northwestern vs. Michigan
Noon Northwestern vs. Chicago
1 p.m. Northwestern vs. Wisconsin
2 p.m. Northwestern vs. Bowling Green
3 p.m. Northwestern vs. Oberlin
4 p.m. Northwestern vs. Minnesota