January 30, 1999

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The second-ranked men’s and the fourth-ranked women’s Notre Dame fencing teams registered 5-0 records in their first home matches of the season on Saturday. Both teams defeated Case Western Reserve, Purdue, Cleveland State, Chicago and Ohio State. The men improve to 11-1 on the season and the women’s record now stands at 10-2.

The Irish men defeated Case Western Reserve 26-1, Purdue 23-4, Cleveland State 24-3, Chicago 25-2 and Ohio State 20-7. The sabre team was lead by the undefeated trio of senior captain and three-time All-American Luke LaValle, Andre Crompton and Gabor Szelle. The trio posted a combined record of 24-0 with LaValle earning seven victories, Crompton gaining nine wins and Szelle registering eight wins. Senior captain Stephane Auriol and Charles Hayes led the men’s foil squad finishing 8-2 and 8-1, respectively. Pacing the men’s epee squad was the 9-0, performance of two-time All-American Carl Jackson and the 7-1 showing by freshman Brian Casas.

The Irish women defeated Case Western Reserve 31-1, Purdue 30-2, Cleveland State 25-7, Chicago 24-8 and seventh-ranked Ohio State 20-12. The foilists fell behind 2-0 to the Buckeyes before winning the next nine bouts in the 11-5 victory. In a close match the epee squad defeated Ohio State 9-7. Three-time All-American Sara Walsh was 4-0 against the Buckeyes and 14-0 on the day, while two-time All-American and 1997 NCAA epee champion Magda Krol was 4-0 against Ohio State and 14-2 on the day. Other notables performances from the Irish women came from epee captain Nicole Mustilli who posted a 13-2 mark along with foilists Myriah Brown and Nicole Paulina who registered 12-1 and 13-3 records respectively.

The Irish will head Durham, N.C. on February 5-6. In Durham the Irish will face Duke, Air Force, North Carolina and Rutgers.