Feb. 4, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple women's fencing team posted a perfect 5-0 mark Sunday afternoon in the Temple Invitational hosted at McGonigle Hall. En route to their unblemished performance, the Owls bested Steven's Institute of Technology (23-4), Rutgers (23-4), Johns Hopkins (22-5), Fairleigh Dickinson (21-6) and Hunter College (24-3).
"We had a very good day where the team fenced hard and stayed focused. They've continued to work on things they've been practicing, and it's really starting to pay dividends," said head coach Nikki Franke, who is in her 35th season on North Broad Street. "We were happy to see that they often picked up on what their opponents were doing and adjusted accordingly."
The Cherry and White epee line-up was led by juniors Marla Nacey (11-1) and Brianna Ferrara (12-2). Sophomore Kaitlyn Uckert turned in a 9-3 mark while freshman Kristin Howell went 6-1.
Franke's foil line-up was spear-headed by three flawless performances from freshman Meredith Bratton (9-0), sophomore Nina Gernes (5-0) and junior Samantha Myles (6-0). Freshmen Melissa Parker (6-1), Abigail Schifferle (4-3) and sophomore Sabrina Shapiro (9-2) rounded-out the Cherry and White's foil attack.
Similar to the foil performance, the sabre team was led by perfect records from sophomore
Ashlee Phillips (7-0) and junior
Kristine Jones (7-0). Freshmen
Christie Griffith (6-2),
Lauren Baker (6-4) and
Sara Haase (7-3) also contributed solid performances for Franke.
The Owls return to the road on Saturday, February 10 at 4:00 p.m. for the Drew Invitational.
