Kovacs, Milewski Win Silver On Day 1 Of ACC Fencing

Saturday, February 24

South Bend, Ind.

North Carolina

ACC Championships (Individual Competition)

Two tar Heels won silver on Saturday, Nicole Milewski (left) in epee and Sopha Kovacs in sabre.

February 24, 2024 | Fencing

Full Results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – North Carolina came away from day one of the Atlantic Coast Conference Fencing Championships on Saturday with two silver medals and a whole lot of motivation.

Competing at Notre Dame's Castellan Family Fencing Center in the afternoon session, redshirt junior Sophia Kovacs took silver in women's sabre after a fourth-place finish last year. Sophomore Nicole Milewski claimed silver in women's epee.

In the morning session, the men's squad also saw two Tar Heels get to the medal rounds, with both finishing fourth, Nick Baumstein in foil and Maximo Zafft in sabre. Baumstein, who finished sixth at ACCs last year, just missed a spot in the final, falling 15-14 in the semis.

Overall, the host Fighting Irish claimed 12 of the 18 total medals, with UNC, Duke and Boston College winning two each. While those Carolina silvers are outstanding souvenirs from the first day of the trip, the medals weren't the only focus.

"As a team, we talked about having fun," UNC coach Matt Jednak said. "Sometimes that's about showcasing the hard things we're working on – we wanted to have fun in that regard. We did that and it put us in a really good mindset in preparing for tomorrow's event."

The Tar Heels now do a quick pivot into team competition on Sunday, with the men starting at 8 a.m., less than 12 hours after the women's individual competitions wrapped up. Far from feeling fatigued, Carolina came away from the first day of ACC fencing feeling motivated for the second.

"Even the people who didn't find their way to the medal round today, they all came out of the pools and were like, 'OK, I'm ready,'" Jednak said. "The chatter was all healthy and forward-thinking. No one is content and we can't wait to get to teams tomorrow."

ACC Individual Competition
Saturday, Feb. 24
Men's Foil
4. Nick Baumstein
10. Kevin Maia Lima
13. Alexander Sichitiu

Men's Epee
4. Maximo Zafft
6. Brayden Gyure
9. Eli Lippman
10. Boris Muga

Men's Sabre
6. Casper Mika
11. Nicky Wind
12. Elden Wood
16. Alec Mulvaney

Women's Foil
10. Molly Kettelle
12. Sophia Mandour
13. Sofia Molho

Women's Epee
2. Nicole Milewski
5. Anna Temiryaev
9. Allegra Parker
12. Sobia Reid

Women's Sabre
2. Sophia Kovacs
12. Toma Kobozeva
15. Ella Webb
16. Charlotte Scalamoni-Goldstein

Sunday Men's Team Championship Schedule
8:00 AM Round #1 - #1 Notre Dame vs. #4 Duke (strips 1, 2, 3) ---- #2 BC vs. #3 UNC (strips 4, 5, 6)
9:15 AM Round #2 - #3 UNC vs. #1 Notre Dame (strips 1, 2, 3) ---- #2 BC vs. #4 Duke (strips 4, 5, 6)
10:30 AM Round #3 - #1 Notre Dame vs. #2 BC (strips 1,2,3) ---- #4 Duke vs. #3 UNC (strips 4,5,6)

Sunday Women's Team Championship Schedule
12:15 PM Round #1 - #1 Duke vs. #4 UNC (strips 1, 2, 3) ---- #2 Notre Dame vs. #3 BC (strips 4, 5, 6)
1:30 PM Round #2 - #3 BC vs. #1 Duke (strips 1, 2, 3) ---- #2 Notre Dame vs. #4 UNC (strips 4, 5, 6)
2:45 PM Round #3 - #1 Duke vs. #2 Notre Dame (strips 1, 2, 3) ---- #4 UNC vs. #3 BC (strips 4, 5, 6)

Team Seeds
Men
#1 – Notre Dame
#2 – Boston College
#3 – North Carolina
#4 – Duke

Women
#1 – Duke
#2 – Notre Dame
#3 – Boston College
#4 – North Carolina