February 4, 1999

Irish Preview: The Irish will head to Durham, N.C., to face Duke, Air Force, North Carolina and Rutgers. Both the Irish men and women have undefeated series records with Duke, North Carolina and Rutgers. The Irish men’s all-time series records for the teams at this meet are; 18-6 against Air Force, 9-0 against Duke, 12-0 when facing North Carolina and 7-0 against Rutgers. The Irish women’s all-time series records against the teams involved in this meet are; 12-1 when they fence Air Force, 7-0 against Duke, 12-0 when in competition with North Carolina and 6-0 against Rutgers. With coach Yves Auriol’s career coaching record at 397-22 (.947) the third Irish win this weekend will give Auriol his 400th career coaching victory.

Irish Review: At home in the Joyce Center Fieldhouse on January 30, both the Irish men and women fencing teams posted undefeated records as they did battle with five Midwestern opponents. The Irish men’s squad defeated Case Western Reserve 26-1, Purdue 23-4, Cleveland State 24-3, Chicago 25-2 and Ohio State 20-7. Pacing the strong showing by the Irish were four undefeated fencers. Freshman sabremen Andre Crompton (Irvington, N.J.) and Gabor Szelle (Budapest, Hungary) continue to impress as they, along with captain Luke LaValle (New York, N.Y.) combined for a 24-0 record on the day. Crompton posted nine victories with no losses, Szelle finished with eight wins against no losses and LaValle registered seven wins without a loss. The other undefeated Irish fencer was two-time All-American epeeist Carl Jackson (Ringoes, N.J.) who went 9-0. The Irish women’s squad defeated Case Western Reserve 31-1, Purdue 30-2, Cleveland State 25-7, Chicago 24-8 and seventh-ranked Ohio State 20-12. Foilist and three-time All-American Sara Walsh (Mishawaka, Ind.) led the way for the women’s squad with a 14-0 showing. Fellow foilist and three-time All-American Myriah Brown (Mishawaka, Ind.) finished the day’s competition with a 12-1 mark improving her record on the season to 31-8. Brown’s career record is now 251-26 (.906) making her the career leader in foil wins. Mindi Kalogera, who fenced from 1993-96, is now the second all-time leader in foil wins with a record of 248-63 (.797). Epee captain and 1998 All-American Nicole Mustilli (South Orange, N.J.) registered a 13-2 mark giving a 35-8 record on the season. With a career record of 266-48 (.847) Mustilli is now in second place in all-time women’s fencing victories behind former Irish fencer Anne Hoos whose all-time record is 313-70 (.817).

Head Coach Yves Auriol: Yves Auriol is in his fourth season as head coach of both the men’s and women’s team. Auriol has achieved great success in his first three seasons guiding the Irish to three second place finishes at the NCAA championships. Coming into the 1999 season Auriol has a career record of 376-20 (.949). Auriol is likely to post his 400th coaching victory in 1999. With the women notching their second win of the season against Pennsylvania Auriol gained his 300th women’s coaching victory. The coach will also look to achieve his 100th men’s coaching victory this season. Returning eight of 10 1998 NCAA championship competitors and seven of the eight 1998 Irish-All-Americans Auriol is looking forward to another successful season.