Shorthanded Irish Women Close Out Regular Season At Duke

DURHAM, N.C. – The Irish women’s fencing team competed at the Beguinet Classic on the campus of Duke University on Saturday in its final day of competition for the 2024-25 regular season.

Notre Dame finished the day with a record of 3-2, despite being handicapped with a 9-0 deficit to start each match due to having to forfeit all the epee bouts because of the fencers competing at the World Cup in Barcelona, which junior fencer Eszter Muhari won for the first time in her career.

Even with the major disadvantage, the Irish recorded wins over No. 13 Penn State (14-13), Brandeis (16-11) and Boston College (14-13). The two losses came at the hands of No. 11 Temple (11-16) and NYU (13-14).

Freshman Magda Skarbonkiewicz was perfect on the day in sabre, going 9-0 to help the Irish to three victories. Sabre teammate Jadeyn Williams also had a notable performance, posting a mark of 10-2 at the invite. 

In foil, Victoria Pevzner led the Irish with a record of 8-2 in the competition while Emma Griffin finished with a mark of 5-1.

The men’s team closes out the regular season portion of the schedule on Sunday, Feb. 9, as it competes in the Miller Invitational just down the road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on the campus of UNC.

The men’s and women’s squads will open postseason competition in two weeks back in the Tar Heel State with the ACC Championships in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Sunday, Feb. 23.