Tar Heels Take Two Medals At ACC Championships

Saturday, February 24

Chapel Hill

8:00 AM

North Carolina

ACC Championships

Justine de Grasse (left) took bronze and Georgina Summers won silver in ACC epee competition

February 24, 2018 | Fencing

Championship Central Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Two Tar Heels stood on the podium Saturday afternoon as the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Fencing Championship individual medals were presented. Georgina Summers won the silver in epee and Justine de Grasse won the bronze, marking the first time in program history that two UNC fencers have earned medals in the same year. In fact, only one other Tar Heel had medalled since the ACC women's championship started in 2015.

"It's amazing when two people from the same weapon can be that consistent all day," UNC coach Ron Miller said.

The first day of ACC fencing at Carmichael Arena featured women's individual competition in the morning and men's team competition, in which UNC finished third, in the afternoon. Action continues on Sunday, beginning at 7 a.m. with the men's individual competition. The women's team event starts at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free. For a full schedule, click here
http://www.theacc.com/sports/2018/2/1/2018-fencing-championship.aspx

Prior to Saturday, the only Carolina women's fencing medalist was Gillian Litynski, who won sabre gold in 2015. Coming out of pool competition, de Grasse and Summers were both in the top four in epee, assuring the Tar Heels of at least one medal. Summers was the top seed and de Grasse was fourth, meaning they'd face each other in the semifinals.

"I didn't like fencing my own teammate," Summers said. "We train together, we eat together, we do everything together. To compete against her wasn't nice, but it had to be done."

De Grasse termed it "really awkward", but also saw a bright side. "The nice thing about it was no matter what, one of us was going to make the final," she said.

It turned out to be Summers, who won 15-5 in a bout that neutralized the loyalties of the UNC crowd. She became just the second Tar Heel fencer – men's or women's – to reach a final bout since 2015, when the women's tournament started and the men's tournament was reinstated after a 35-year hiatus.

In the bronze medal bout, which started first, de Grasse took on Duke's Claudia Wrampelmeier and earned a 15-14 win, bolstered by the Tar Heel cheering section of fencers, families and fans. She let an early lead slip away but was still able to pull out the win. "It's pretty stressful, but it feels so good when you finally get that winning touch," she said.

As de Grasse wrapped up her victory, the UNC faithful shifted to the other side of the Carmichael stands, where the gold medal bout had started a few minutes earlier. In that one, it was Notre Dame that took a narrow win, with Amanda Sirico beating Summers 15-12 to take the epee championship for the second year in a row.

By finishing in the top two, Summers becomes just the second Tar Heel to earn All-ACC honors.

"It's been a long, tiring, hard season, lots of training, lots of hours," Summers said. "It felt so great to be up there (on the podium). It felt very rewarding and very unexpected. I'm very happy."

"Winning an ACC medal is pretty cool and also that two UNC athletes did it – that's a big thing for us and it's a big deal for the team," de Grasse said. "It really helps us go into tomorrow with a positive mindset."

In the team competition Saturday, the UNC men came in seeded third and then finished that way, beating Boston College but falling to Notre Dame and Duke, which won the championship for the first time in school history. "We did what we were supposed to do, and did so with good depth and good energy," Miller said. "Disappointed we weren't as strong in the other two matches – we didn't do as well against either team as earlier in the season. We did fine, but we'd like to do better."

ACC Men's Team Scores

First Round
Notre Dame 20, Boston College 7 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 6-3, Epee 7-2)
Duke 19, North Carolina 8 (Sabre 5-4, Foil 8-1, Epee 6-3)

Second Round
Notre Dame 23, North Carolina 4 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 9-0, Epee 7-2)
Duke 24, Boston College 3 (Sabre 7-2, Foil 9-0, Epee 8-1)

Third Round
Duke 19, Notre Dame 8 (Sabre 4-5, Foil 7-2, Epee 8-1)
North Carolina 18, Boston College 9 (Sabre 8-1, Foil 3-6, Epee 7-2)

ACC Women's Individual Finals

Foil
1. Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame (Silver)
3. Samantha Viqueira, Notre Dame (Bronze)

Sabre
1. Francesca Russo, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Tara Hassett, Notre Dame (Silver)
3. Reghan Ward, Notre Dame (Bronze)

Epee
1. Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Georgina Summers, North Carolina (Silver)
3. Justine de Grasse, North Carolina (Bronze)

2018 All-ACC Fencing Team
Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame
Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame
Francesca Russo, Notre Dame
Tara Hassett, Notre Dame
Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame
Georgina Summers, North Carolina

Top 10 Finishers in each weapons category
Foil
1 Elyssa Kleiner, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame (Silver)
3. Morgan Partridge, Notre Dame (Bronze)
4. Samantha Viqueira, Notre Dame
5. Rhiannon Harvey, Duke
6. Julia Gianneshi, Duke
7. Sydney Persing, North Carolina
8. Wei Chee Chen, North Carolina
9. Carlexa Fevry, North Carolina
10. Kristen Coury, Duke

Epee
1. Amanda Sirico, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Georgina Summers, North Carolina (Silver)
3. Justine de Grasse, North Carolina (Bronze)
4. Claudia Wrampelmeier, Duke
5. Dasha Yefremenko, Notre Dame
6. Julia Barry, Notre Dame
7. Camille Esnault, Duke
8. Ella Morgan, Boston College
9. Marie-Anne Roche, Notre Dame
10. Maria Papadopoulos, Duke

Sabre
1. Francesca Russo, Notre Dame (Gold)
2. Tara Hassett, Notre Dame (Silver)
3. Reghan Ward, Notre Dame (Bronze)
4. Haley Fisher, Duke
5. Claudia Kulmacz, Notre Dame
6. Jennifer Ling, Duke
7. Jackie Litynsky, North Carolina
8. Lindsay Sapienza, Duke
9. Gabrielle Chau, Boston College
10. Clara Somfelean, North Carolina