March 22, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lion women's fencing team finished day one of the NCAA Championships today. The event is being hosted at Penn State's own Multi-Sport Facility.
Penn State holds third place at the end of day one with 52 points. Notre Dame and Columbia are currently tied for first place with 56 points.
"Later in the day, they started to perform, but the beginning was really slow," said Head Coach Wes Glon. "This effects our performance because we are much better than the current placement."
Day one started with the women's foil. Representing Penn State were freshmen Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.) and Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy).
Zuzulo had a 3-4 start to the day and went 2-2 in the second round. She capped off the day with a 2-2 round. She finished the day with a total record of 7-8.
Bicego had a good start to the day going 4-3 which placed her in the top ten after the first round. In the second round Bicego had a 2-2 record but concluded the day with a 3-1 record in the third round. Overall at the end of day one, Bicego finished with a record of 9-6, which places her at tenth overall in women's foil.
The next event on the day was women's epee. Competing for Penn State were sophomore Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) and junior Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France).
Vanbenthuysen started the day 2-5 and followed that up with a 2-2 record in the second round. She closed out the day with a 3-1 record in the third round, and a 7-8 overall day one record.
Kalonji had a 3-4 start to the day in the first round and followed that up with a 2-2 record in the second. Kalonji finished day one with an overall record of 7-8 after her 2-2 finish in the third round.
Women's saber closed out the first day. Representing Penn State were junior Karen Chang (Hong Kong, China) and freshman Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.).
Chang had a 4-3 start to the day as well as a plus four indicator which allowed her to place in the top ten after the first round. Chang followed up her good start with a 3-1 finish in the second which moved her to sixth place in saber. Chang concluded the day with a 3-1 finish in the third round putting her at 10-5 on the day, which places her seventh overall in women's saber.
Moss had a 4-3 record with a plus two indicator that placed her at 11th after the first round. Moss went perfect in the second round going 4-0, which bumped her into the top five spots after the round. Moss continued her success from the second round in the third by going 4-0 in the round, which puts her in second place in women's saber with an overall record of 12-3 after day one.
The 2018 NCAA Fencing Championships continue at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. The women's competition will continue, culminating in the crowning of three individual champions (one in each weapon) later in the day. The Championships rolls through Saturday and Sunday with the men's competitors. Fans can keep up with Penn State Fencing at GoPSUsports.com. Follow the team on Facebook at Penn State Fencing and on Twitter @pennstateFEN.