Nov. 7, 2015
Penn State Open Women’s Results 
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -The University of Notre Dame women’s fencing team put together an impressive day Saturday at the Penn State Open, with a pair of Irish fencers earning medals to pace the Irish on the day.
Senior Nicole McKee picked up gold with an outstanding day in foil, while sophomore Jamie Norville snared the bronze in the sabre pool after advancing to semifinals.
After two rounds of five-touch pool play in foil and epee and three rounds in sabre, five Irish fencers advanced to direct elimination (top 16) in their respective weapons, as McKee (No. 3), Zoe Loh (No. 9) and Erin Diestche (No. 12) earned foil seeds, Catherine Lee seeded third in epee and Norville picked up the third seed in sabre.
Graduating to 15-touch bouts in the direct elimination rounds, McKee cruised through the competition, defeating three straight fencers from Temple to reach the gold-medal bout. The senior defeated Becca Stanford 15-6 in the round of 16, Miranda Litzinger 15-6 in the quarterfinals and Fatima Largaespada 15-11 in the semifinal. McKee met Yale’s Sarah Pak in the final bout, and cruised to gold with a 15-8 victory.
Norville upended Penn’s Shriya Joshi 15-8 in the opening round of elimination, then dispatched Penn State’s Kathryn Charpin 15-12 to reach the semis. There, she fell to Harvard’s Adrienne Jarocki, but earned the bronze through her overall play on the day.
Loh and Lee each reached the quarterfinal rounds in their weapons groups. Loh earned a 15-9 win over Gaby D’Astoli of North Carolina in the foil round of 16, while Lee downed Temple’s Alexandra Keft 15-6 in epee’s first round.
The Irish will wrap up competition at the Penn State Open on Sunday when the men compete beginning with foil and epee pools starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Penn State Open
November 7-8, 2015
Saturday
Women
Pool Play – Five-touch bouts, record shown
Round 1
Foil
[7] Nicole McKee (ND), 4-1
[8] Sarah Followill (ND), 4-1
[12] Zoe Loh (ND), 4-1
[28] Erin Dietsche (ND), 2-3
[All Advance]
Epee
[11] Catherine Lee (ND), 4-1
[22] Marie-Anne Roche (ND), 3-2
[29] Katherine Clarke (ND), 2-3
[All Advance]
Sabre
Jamie Norville (ND), 3-2
Round 2
Foil
[3] Nicole McKee (ND), 4-1
[9] Zoe Loh (ND), 3-2
[12] Erin Diestche (ND), 2-3
[23] Sarah Followill (ND), 0-5
[Top 16 Advance]
Epee
[3] Catherine Lee (ND), 4-1
[Top 16 Advance]
Sabre
Jamie Norville (ND), 4-1
[Advanced]
Round 3
Sabre
[3] Jamie Norville (ND), 5-0
[Top 16 Advance]
Direct Elimination Rounds
Round of 16
Foil
[3] Nicole McKee (ND) def. [14] Becca Stanford (Temple), 15-9
[9] Zoe Loh (ND) def. [8] Gaby D’Astoli (UNC), 15-9
[5] Liana Semel (Harvard) def. [12] Erin Diestche (ND), 12-8
Epee
[3] Catherine Lee (ND) def. [14] Alexandra Keft (Temple), 15-6
Sabre
[3] Jamie Norville (ND) def. [14] Shriya Joshi (Penn), 15-8
Quarterfinals
Foil
[3] Nicole McKee (ND) def. [11] Miranda Litzinger (Temple), 15-6
[16] Sarah Pak def. [9] Zoe Loh (ND), 15-8
Epee
[6] Safa Ibrahim (Temple) def. [3] Catherine Lee (ND), 15-11
Sabre
[3] Jamie Norville (ND) def. [6] Kathryn Charpin (PSU) 15-12
Semifinals
Foil
[3] Nicole McKee (ND) def. [2] Fatima Largaespada (Temple), 15-11
Sabre
[2] Adrienne Jarocki (Harvard) def. [3] Jamie Norville (ND), 15-8
Championship
Foil
[3] Nicole McKee (ND) def. [16] Sarah Pak (Yale), 15-8
Final Standings
Foil
1. Nicole McKee
5. Zoe Loh
14. Erin Dietsche
23. Sarah Followill
28. Reagan Fitzgerald
Epee
5. Catherine Lee
25T. Katherine Clarke
29. Marie-Anne Roche
Sabre
3T. Jamie Norville
—
To keep up with Irish fencing, visit UND.com/NDFencing, follow @NDFencing on Twitter and like Notre Dame Fencing on Facebook.
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.