The Irish found little difficulty in improving their record to 23-1 on the season as both the men's and women's teams finished with 5-0 records at the Ohio State Duals on Saturday.
"Going into it we thought we were going to do really well," junior sabre Erin Housing said. "We have been practicing really hard, and we prepared for it really well."
The No. 2-ranked men topped regional rivals Purdue (26-1), Michigan State (24-3) and Michigan 20-7. The other two wins came against Case (24-3) and Indiana (22-5).
"I found trouble against Michigan State, because I underestimated them," Housing said. "I definitely made mistakes I shouldn't have, because they have a strong team and are competitive."
Highlights came from junior epeeist Patrick Gettings (13-1) and sophomore captain Greg Howard (5-0). Howard improved his season record to 35-6.
In the sabre competition, senior Nicholas Diacous finished 6-1 and freshman Bill Thanhouser came out 6-0. Diacous now stands at 20-8 for the season and Thanhouser is 27-9 for the Irish. Thanhouser did not compete in last weekend's Notre Dame Duals because of the Junior World Cup in Italy.
In the women's portion of the competition, the No. 1 Irish shut out Case and Purdue 27-0. The other wins came against Michigan State (23-4), Indiana (22-5) and Michigan (21-6).
Noteworthy performances came from fifth-year senior Becca Chimahusky (14-1) and freshman Madeleine Stephan (14-1) in epee.
In sabre, freshman Ashley Serrette continued her streak of remarkable performances as she finished 14-1, followed by junior Angela Vincent (13-2) and Housing (12-3).
"She focuses really well on what she does. She goes into each bout as if it is the most important." Housing said. "And she has all the skills."
Sophomore Melanie Bautista led the women's foil by finishing 8-1, followed by Rachel Cota (11-3), freshmen Adrienne Nott (4-0), Emilie Prot (5-0) and senior Colleen Walsh (13-1).
The Irish return to action for their final regular-season dual at the UC San Diego Duals on Feb. 11.
In addition to Notre Dame and San Diego, other teams that will be competing are Stanford, Air Force, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Tech.
