University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Women Wrap Up ACC Championships In Third Place
February 27, 2017 | Fencing
DURHAM, N.C. – The second day of the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Fencing Championships looked much like the first for UNC, with a third-place team finish and a fourth-place individual performance leading the way on Sunday at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The morning kicked off with the men's individual competition, beginning at 7 a.m. Junior Matthew Shlimak reached the semifinals to give the Tar Heels their top finish of the day. In the afternoon, the Tar Heel women finished 1-2 in the team competition, just as the men did on Saturday.
Notre Dame, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation, won the women's team championship for the third year in a row. The Fighting Irish also swept the men's individual weapon championships.
Shlimak, a business administration major from Houston, earned a spot in the epee semifinals for the third year in a row. He was fourth in 2015 and earned the bronze in 2016. “That's incredible consistency,” Miller said. “He did a good job today.” After Shlimak, sophomore Jason Xu was sixth, freshman Jacob Henkels 12th and senior Michael Gopman Slonim 13th.
In sabre two sophomores led the way, with Matthew Garrelick fifth and Connor Ritchey seventh. Freshman Sam Tate placed 12th.
In foil, freshman Brian Lee took 10th for the Tar Heels' top finish. Senior Ezra Baeli-Wang was 13th, sophomore Ian Head was 14th and sophomore Richard Cho was 15th.
In the afternoon, the women opened against Duke, a team that edged the Tar Heels 14-13 two weeks ago. Despite high hopes going into the meet, Carolina fell again, this time 16-11. “The women came out well against Duke but didn't sustain it,” Miller said. “So that was very disappointing because we knew we could do better.”
The Tar Heels had time to regroup before Boston College and were able to settle down and fence well, winning 19-8. In the final meet of the day, UNC fell to eventual champion Notre Dame 20-7, but came away feeling good about the effort. “Against Notre Dame we fenced the best we've fenced all year,” Miller said. “We had some very strong wins, and the whole team fenced well. We had great support from our fans and administrators. We wanted to culminate the weekend with a good competition and we certainly did that against Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame's Sabrina Massialas was voted as the Women's Championship Most Valuable Fencer by the league's four coaches, while Notre Dame's Ariel Simmons was selected as Men's Championship Most Valuable Fencer. The top two finishers in each weapon automatically earn All-ACC honors.
Next up for the Tar Heels are the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals March 11 in Easton, Pa.
Women's Team Standings
1. Notre Dame (3-0)
2. Duke (2-1)
3. North Carolina (1-2)
4. Boston College (0-3)
Women's Team Results
Round 1
Notre Dame def. Boston College, 24-3 (S81/F90/E72)
Duke def. North Carolina, 16-11 (S81/F27/E63)
Round 2
Notre Dame def. Duke, 20-7 (S63/F90/E54)
North Carolina def. Boston College, 18-9 (S81/F63/E45)
Round 3
Notre Dame def. North Carolina, 20-7 (S54/F72/E81)
Duke def. Boston College, 22-5 (S72F90/E63)
Men's Individual Results
Sabre
Gold – Pascual Di Tella, Duke
Silver – Jonah Shainberg, Notre Dame
Bronze – Agoston Walter, Duke
Foil
Gold – Kristjan Archer, Notre Dame
Silver – Axel Kiefer, Notre Dame
Bronze – Eoin Gronningsater
Épée
Gold – Ariel Simmons, Notre Dame
Silver – Dylan French, Notre Dame
Bronze – Bryn Hammarberg, Duke
ACC Championship Most Valuable Fencers
Men – Ariel Simmons, Notre Dame
Women – Sabrina Massialas, Notre Dame
Players Mentioned
