NOTRE DAME, Indiana — Following a breakout junior campaign Stefani Deschner was named ACC Women’s Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Thursday morning. It is the third straight season at least one member of the Irish have claimed the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Deschner is joined by five other Irish athletes on the ACC All-Academic Team. She is joined by teammates Natalie Disher, Miriam Grady, Regina O’Brien, Amanda Sirico and Alessandro Contreras. O’Brien earned her first All-Academic team honor while Contreras, Disher and Grady claimed their second and Sirico earned the nod for the fourth time in her career.
The junior from Versailles, Kentucky had a standout season on the strip and finished the regular season with a 36-13 record. She opened the season with an 8-4 performance at the Elite Invitational in Philadelphia. Deschner finished the regular season going undefeated in her last three meets (6-0 at DeCicco, 8-0 at Northwestern and 3-0 at Duke).
She earned the top seed at the ACC’s and defeated Duke’s Julia Noguchi 15-7 to clinch a spot in the finals. In the foil finals, Deschner defeated teammate Morgan Partridge 15-12 for her first career ACC Foil Championship. On Sunday at ACC’s, Deschner went 5-1 in the team competition to help clinch the title for the Irish. At regionals, Deschner finished third after going 12-4 on the day. Deschner earned her first career berth to the NCAA Championship after receiving an at-large selection.
Deschner is working towards a degree in Pre-Professional Studies and Theology.
2020 All-ACC Academic Fencing Team
Men
Bin Huang, Boston College, Freshman, Foil, Finance
**Spencer Kuldell, Boston College, Sophomore, Sabre, Computer Science
**Bolang Meng, Boston College, Sophomore, Sabre, Economics
****Eoin Gronningsater, Duke, Senior, Foil, Political Science
***Brycen Rushing, Duke, Junior, Foil, Mechanical Engineering
**Jonathan Schwartzman, Duke, Senior, Foil, Biology and Philosophy
Agoston Walter, Duke, Senior, Sabre, Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science
James Mulligan, North Carolina, Junior, Foil, Environmental Sciences
**Beni Rabinowitz, North Carolina, Junior, Sabre, Information Science
**Alessandro Contreras, Notre Dame, Sophomore, Sabre, Finance
Women
**Gillian Lawlor, Boston College, Junior, Sabre, Elementary Education
Rylie Rueda, Boston College, Senior, Epee, Finance
**Huda Aldadah, Duke, Sophomore, Epee, Electrical and Computer Engineering
***Julia Gianneschi, Duke, Junior, Foil, Psychology
Alex Gorman, Duke, Sophomore, Sabre, Public Policy and International Comparative Studies
**Maria Papadopoulos, Duke, Junior, Epee, Environmental Sciences and Biology
**Zoe Superville, Duke, Foil, Sophomore, Computer Science
**Wei Chee Chen, North Carolina, Senior, Foil, Business Administration
****Jackie Litynski, North Carolina, Senior, Sabre, Environmental Sciences and Public Policy
**Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame, Junior, Foil, Pre-Professional Studies & Theology
**Natalie Disher, Notre Dame, Senior, Sabre, Psychology
**Miriam Grady, Notre Dame, Sophomore, Epee, Science-Business
Regina O’Brien, Notre Dame, Senior, Sabre, International Economics
****Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame, Graduate, Epee
Bold denotes ACC Fencing Scholar-Athletes of the Year
* denotes individual’s number of All-ACC Academic honors
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