Tar Heels Fence Well, Look To Conquer Close Bouts

Sunday, January 14

University Park, Pa.

8:00 AM

North Carolina

Penn State Dual Meets

The Tar Heel women huddle up during Sunday's meets at Penn State (Photo by Gene Costa)

January 15, 2018 | Fencing

The team was in action at Penn State on Sunday.

By: UNC Athletic Communications

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The North Carolina men's and women's fencing teams finished a combined 4-7 in dual meets Sunday at Penn State, in a day of action that included tough competition, impressive team consistency and too many close calls.

The Tar Heel men went 2-3, beating Yale and Haverford but losing to Columbia, Penn and Penn State, all of which finished last season ranked in the top six.

The Tar Heel women went 2-4, beating Columbia, which finished last season ranked No. 2, and Haverford, and falling to Yale, Penn, Temple and the host Nittany Lions.

"Our goals going into the weekend were to break through on one or more of the top teams – and we did that with the women beating Columbia – and to be competitive against everyone else, and more consistently than in the past, meaning not having one weapon that just zeroed out," UNC coach Ron Miller said "For the most part we did that, even though we were missing a few starters on the women's side due to injury."

For the Tar Heels, 5-4 bouts were a storyline throughout the day, and not in a positive way. "The 5-4 bouts killed us," Miller said. "We had 66 bouts that went to 5-4 and we lost 46 of those. In four cases that was the difference in the meet. Obviously we've got to work harder there.

"This has been an issue all year. Even though we've done well, if we've had an Achilles it's been the 5-4 bouts. We're just not performing there like we should. Some is experience and the fact that we're still a very young team, but that's not an excuse."

For overall weapon squad performances, three stood out. The women's epee squad was even on the day, with first-year Tar Heel Georgina Summers leading the way. The men's sabre squad was five wins over .500, with junior Matthew Garrelick the standout. And the men's epee squad also finished above .500. "Foil was really snakebitten by the 5-4 bouts on both the men's and women's sides," Miller said.

The Tar Heels were down a coach for the trip after associate head coach Josh Webb fell ill and had to stay behind Chapel Hill As a result, the weapon captains had to take on more responsibility and even the parents chipped in. "The captains did a phenomenal job," Miller said. "We had parents helping out with equipment, and as usual they brought us great food. It was really a group effort."

Penn State Dual Meets
Jan. 14, 2018
University Park, Pa.

MEN
Columbia 17, UNC 10
Sabre: CU 5-4
Foil: CU 7-2
Epee: CU 5-4

UNC 17, Yale 10
Sabre: UNC 6-3
Foil: UNC 5-4
Epee: UNC 6-3

Penn 20, UNC 7
Sabre: Penn 5-4
Foil: Penn 8-1
Epee: Penn 7-2

Penn State 17, UNC 10
Sabre: PSU 5-4
Foil: PSU 7-2
Epee: PSU 5-4

UNC 20, Haverford 7
Sabre: UNC 7-2
Foil: UNC 6-3
Epee: UNC 7-2

WOMEN
UNC 14, Columbia 13
Sabre: CU 6-3
Foil: UNC 7-2
Epee: CU 5-4

Yale 15, UNC 12
Sabre: Yale 5-4
Foil: UNC 5-4
Epee: Yale 6-3

Penn 16, UNC 11
Sabre: Penn 5-4
Foil: Penn 6-3
Epee: Penn 5-4

Temple 17, UNC 10
Sabre: TU 5-4
Foil: TU 7-2
Epee: TU 5-4

Penn State 21, UNC 6
Sabre: PSU 7-2
Foil: PSU 8-1
Epee: PSU 6-3

UNC 20, Haverford 7
Sabre: UNC 5-4
Foil: UNC 6-3
Epee: UNC 9-0