March 23, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lions women's fencing team completed the final day of the women's side of the NCAA Championships. Penn State freshman Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.) claimed the team's highest finish of the tournament this far with her second-place finish in the women's saber championship with her teammate Karen Chang (Hong Kong, China) taking third.
"Today was a great day. Everyone really performed excellent. We like to win, but that is sports. We took second and third, these are still really good results." said Head Coach Wes Glon when talking about today's finish.
At the end of the women's competition, Penn State sits at second place with 89 points. Columbia currently holds third place with 86 and the only team in front of Penn State is Notre Dame with 95.
Saber was the first to finish on the day, as all three weapons started at the same time for the fourth and fifth rounds. Chang and Moss both placed within the top-four securing a place in the semi-finals, facing each other in the national semi-finals. Moss downed Chang 15-3 to advance to the championship.
Moss came into the day with a record of 12-3 and continued her success from day one as she went 7-1 on the day which increased her record to 19-4 placing her atop of the women's saber rankings after the fifth round. In the finals, Moss placed second after a 15-11 loss to Princeton's Maia Chamberlain.
Chang carried a 10-5 record into day two where she had a day total of 7-1 which allowed her to place within the top-four in the competition. Chang ended her tournament run as an All-American and third place finisher in the saber tied with Francesca Russo from Notre Dame.
The third Nittany Lion named All-American on the day was freshman foil fencer Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) started the day at a 9-6 record, which placed her within the top-ten. In the fourth round, Bicego went 3-1 to move up to seventh in the rankings, and missed out on the semi-finals by the difference of one win after going 4-0.
Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.) started the day where she left off yesterday at 7-8. Isabella had a 4-4 record on the day claiming a 13th place finish in the NCAA championship tournament.
Penn State's fourth All-American Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) started the day with a perfect set of four wins coming off of her 7-8 record in day one. She followed up her successful fourth round with a 2-2 record in fifth round, which gives her a 13-10 total record and eighth place overall in women's epee.
Narrowly missing out on All-American honors was Antasia Kalonji (Rennes, France). Kalonji tied Vanbenthuysen for eighth but slid to ninth by a difference of two touches. Kalonji came into day two with a record of 7-8 and started the day with a 2-2 fourth round finish. Kalonji ended the day with four straight wins to put her at 13-10 and ninth place.
The 2018 NCAA Fencing Championships continue at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. The men's competition will start with foil and epee. 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.