March 23, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A swell of emotions surrounded Penn State fencing, as the Nittany Lion women's team opened the first day of the NCAA Championships with rounds one through three at the Multi-Sport Facility.
Surrounded by their teammates, the Nittany Lions quickly shook off some opening round jitters before putting together productive performances across the women's foil, epee and saber competitions.
In the team standings, Penn State is third behind Notre Dame and Columbia after the first day of NCAA Championships action.
Of the six Nittany Lions competing on day one, four were doing so in the NCAA Championships for the very first time. Among them, junior Anastasia Kalonji and freshman Zara Moss.
"It's been an amazing experience," Kalonji said. "It's my first NCAA's so it's really thrilling, a lot of emotions for sure. I'm glad that it's at Penn State. It's great to be able to sleep in my own bed and kind of have that home court advantage. It's really awesome."
Competing alongside sophomore Barbara VanBenthuysen in the women's epee, Kalonji didn't open the first round as well as she would have liked.
"I think it started out a little rough to be honest with three wins and four losses but throughout the day I rallied, got a few extra victories and I'm just hoping for the best tomorrow," Kalonji said.
One day one, each Nittany Lion will have seven first round bouts before moving on to four more in the second and third rounds, respectively. Headed toward her final bout of the day, Kalonji found herself feeling down, having lost each of the last two.
Behind the sound of her teammates chanting her name, Kalonji was underway against a tough Notre Dame opponent she defeated by a close 5-4 score to end her first day of NCAA action on top.
"That was definitely a tough bout, previous to that bout I had lost two bouts so I was feeling down but I was able to be fresh, to reset and really just go get it," Kalonji said. "It was an awesome bout to fence."
Currently at 13th in the individual standings behind VanBenthuysen, it's all about coming in with a fresh approach in today's fourth and fifth rounds ahead of semifinal action.
"I'm going to come in motivated and fresh and just reboot for tomorrow."
For Moss, competing in the NCAA Championships is something she has dreamed of since she began fencing at age seven.
Much like Kalonji though, a mix of emotions and nerves were present to start the day.
"Starting out I was very nervous, I had ups and downs," Moss said. "I started my first pool and I was doing very well, then I lost a bout that I felt like I should have won. I struggled for a minute but then I was able to pull myself back together. It's been a lot of emotions but I think I've been handling them fairly well."
Moss went 4-3 in the opening round of the women's saber, but quickly regrouped to close out the day with a string of eight consecutive victories with 4-0 marks in back-to-back rounds.
Initially anxious about meetings against a pair of tough Notre Dame opponents, Moss stayed focused on her plan, keying in on the little things like keeping her steps small.
"I was really happy because a lot of times when I'm fencing I'll get overwhelmed and I start thinking about, 'oh I have to win this or I'm not going to do well' and I just start thinking about the whole day or the whole competition," Moss said. "So I was just narrowing it down and thinking about this touch, this couple of seconds and that really helped a lot. When I won the first bout against Notre Dame, that gave me confidence for the second one."
Moss' surging second and third rounds vaulted her to second in the team standings at 12-15 on the day with a plus-25 indicator.
For both Moss and Kalonji though, it's the benefit of having a teammate competing right alongside them that helped fight through the tough moments.
"I think it's been great having a partner like Barbara, she's always very supportive," Kalonji said. "We talk to each other, we have little things we know will lift our spirits up. She's been great with that. I think that having that duo is honestly a great, great privilege in this competition and it's definitely going to keep us going for tomorrow."
For Moss, it was junior Karen Chung, who currently sits in seventh place after day one, winning 10 of 15 bouts with a plus-22 indicator.
"Today, in my first bout she came and she hooked me up," Moss said. "Usually you hook yourself up, but she came and said, 'I got it, I got it for you.' Just to have her there alongside me where I can ask her questions and talk to her, she's been amazing. She's an amazing role model and a great person to fence alongside."
Tomorrow brings new opportunity for all the Nittany Lion women, as champions will be crowned at the end of the day. Rounds four and five are set to begin at 9 a.m. ESPN3 will have live coverage of the semifinals, which begin at 1 p.m.