The Irish put on a show this weekend as they dominated challengers at the Northwestern Duals in Evanston, Ill. The men's and women's teams now stand at 18-0 and 17-0 respectively, improving their standing on both the national and regional stages.
"[It was an] excellent performance from the team," Irish coach Janusz Bednarski said. "It's a confirmation that we're in a pretty good position in the region."
Only two weeks into the NCAA season, it is remarkable how much the team has improved since their last competition in New York. Junior Hayley Reese and sophomores Radmila Sarkisova and Darsie Malynn led a clutch overtime rally in the women's foil, coming out in front of Ivy League leader Princeton.
Junior Avery Zuck had an outstanding performance against Ohio State as well.
"What is very interesting is that we had some weapons from some matches we struggled such as in women's foil," Bednarski said. "Same with men's sabre, we struggled in New York but today we beat them decisively. It's about timing and so many factors that are hard to control but we had very good results."
Sophomore Courtney Hurley fought through the pain of a foot injury early in the competition but came through and won all of her events.
Top clubs from around the region will be converging on the Joyce Center next weekend for the annual Notre Dame Duals in which the Irish will have another chance to prove themselves before the conference championships in March.
"We have to be careful in building confidence," Bednarski said. "We don't want to be overconfident."
