Jednak Earns ACC Coaching Honor

North Carolina fencing coach Matt Jednak has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Fencing Co-Coach of the Year, as announced on Thursday by the league. Jednak, a former student-athlete and assistant coach in the UNC program, is in his first year as head coach of the Tar Heel men's and women's teams.

"I'm surprised and honored to win this award," Jednak said Thursday morning. "Our staff and team get the credit for this – they put in so much hard work and had a great season. I'm excited and proud to be part of this journey with them, and we'll use this as momentum as we continue to move forward and build toward the 2020-21 season."

The UNC women finished 22-11 overall in 2019-20 and were second at the ACC Championship in late February. Carolina earned a marque win in the first team competition of the season, beating host Penn at the Elite Invitational. The Tar Heels knocked off Columbia at the Penn State Dual Meets in January. They pulled off another upset in the final team competition of the season, beating Duke 15-12 at the ACC Championships to finish second overall.

Jednak shares the women's honor with Notre Dame coach Gia Kvaratskhelia, who also was named ACC Men's Coach of the Year. "I'm in amazing company to share this with such a talented coach," Jednak said. "Congratulations to Gia and to all of the student-athlete honorees."

This year marks the third time since 2015, when the ACC reinstated fencing as a conference sport, that a Tar Heel coach has earned conference honors. Ron Miller, who retired last spring after 52 seasons at the Carolina helm, was ACC Women's Coach of the Year in 2015 and was honored for both men's and women's squads in 2018. Jednak, a UNC graduate and former Tar Heel assistant, took over as the Carolina coach on May 1, 2019.

The 2020 conference honorees are:

2020 ACC FENCERS OF THE YEAR
Men's Epee: Bowen Wang, Duke
Men's Foil: Andrew Machovec, Notre Dame
Men's Sabre: Alessandro Contreras, Notre Dame

Women's Epee: Miriam Grady, Notre Dame
Women's Foil: Stefani Deschner, Notre Dame
Women's Sabre: Kara Linder, Notre Dame

2020 ACC COACHES OF THE YEAR
ACC Men's Coach of the Year: Gia Kvaratskhelia, Notre Dame
ACC Women's Co-Coaches of the Year: Matt Jednak, North Carolina; Gia Kvaratskhelia, Notre Dame

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