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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lion women's fencing team closed out the NCAA Championships today and helped drive the Penn State fencing teams to an NCAA Runner-Up finish at the 2019 NCAA Fencing Championships in Cleveland. Head coach Wes Glon's squad also added four more All-Americans today, all on the women's side bringing the weekend's total to seven after the men's team brought home three.
Penn State finished the event in second place with 166 points, just behind national champion Columbia, who had 178.
The first weapon to finish on the day was women's epee. Anastasia Kalonji (Rennes, France) earned all-American honors as she finished out the competition in seventh place with a 13-10 record. Barbara VanBenthuysen (Spring, Texas) placed 13th with a record of 12-11.
The next event on tap was women's foil. Lodovica Bicego (Vicenza, Italy) lost only one bout in the final two rounds of round robins as she earned the second all-American honors on the day with a seventh-place finish and a 14-8 record. Isabella Zuzulo (Newtown, Pa.) finished in 11th with an 11-11 record after going 5-2 in the closing rounds.
Women's saber closed out the NCAA championships. Senior Karen Chang (Hong Kong, China) narrowly missed an opportunity to fence in the semi-finals after going 16-7 as sophomore teammate Zara Moss (Cranberry Township, Pa.) took the fourth spot by a difference of five touches. Moss for the second consecutive year made it to the NCAA women's saber championship and finished as national runner-up after dropping a tough match-up to St. John's Karolina Cieslar, 15-13, in the championship round. Moss finished with a record of 16-7 and the third highest indicator amongst women saber fencers with +37.
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