Women's Fencing 1/11/2020 8:19:00 AM

Bulldogs to Compete in Penn State Invitational

Seven Bouts On Tap Vs. Challenging Competition

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - On Sunday, the Yale women's fencing team is scheduled to compete against seven schools in back-to-back rounds.

The Bulldogs open the day against Penn State, an opponent against whom the team narrowly earned a 14-13 victory earlier in the season. In the second and third rounds, the Bulldogs face off against Haverford and UNC respectively. After the lunch break, bouting will resume against Penn, Temple, Duke, and Columbia.

At the Penn State Invitational last year, the team earned decisive victories against Haverford and UNC, and at the Ivy League Round Robins, the Bulldogs earned a close 14-13 victory against Penn..

The team is eager to maintain and improve upon these records, returning early from winter break for a week of intensive training. The training regimen included strength training in the weight room, rigorous cardio exercises, and long hours of fencing drills and practice bouting.

Captain Anna Zhou is enthusiastic about the application of these efforts to the upcoming meet, explaining, "it's going to be a long day on Sunday but I think this week of training has really solidified us as a strong contender. We've pushed through spin, stairs and sprints this week and are hungry for more."

First-year Rakel Tanibajeva comments that "the amazing team camaraderie deepened over winter training helped me be my best self and continue pushing myself this weekend and in future meets."

Many fencers are looking ahead by thinking about long-term goals, in which winter training is a strong beginning. Saber squad captain Lauren Kim reflects that "the team had a super productive week of winter training. We worked really hard to prepare for our upcoming meets and feel ready to show up and do our best when fencing."

Epeeist Shirley Wang echoes the sentiment, saying that "the team has been working really hard this week to get ready for the second half of the season. We're really looking forward to the tournament this weekend at Penn State and the rest of the season."

The long day on Sunday will be the team's first opportunity to put the past week's training in action.

The first round of bouting begins at 8:30 a.m. and the last round begins at 5:00 p.m..

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Kim: Saber; Junior

Shirley Wang: Epee; Sophomore

Anna Zhou: Foil; Senior

Rakel Tanibajeva: Epee; First Year

Players Mentioned

Lauren Kim
: Junior
: Saber

Shirley Wang
: Sophomore
: Epee

Anna Zhou
: Senior
: Foil

Rakel Tanibajeva
: First Year
: Epee