NEW YORK, N.Y. (February 16, 2020) – Sophomore Kiera Barnes won 16 total bouts at sabre and set a new program record for single-season victories to lead the way for the Stevens Institute of Technology women's fencing team Sunday in the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference Championships.

The Ducks took home second place overall as a team and second place at each weapon as they finished the day with a 6-1 record with their lone loss coming against conference champion Johns Hopkins University. Stevens has now won a single-season program record 34 matches this season.

Senior Nicole Strezewski also hit a milestone as she became just the fourth foilest in program history to reach 200 career wins. After adding 15 wins to her ledger in the meet, Strezewski now is tied for fourth in program history with 205 victories in her career.

Additionally, Stevens had seven players selected to the EWFC All-Conference teams after the meet.

Kayleigh Kubit (foil), Leigha Capra (epee), Barnes (sabre) and Chrissy Drobish (sabre) all earned First Team All-EWFC honors while Sara Persau (foil), Claire McNeill and Teny Odaimi were named to the Second Team All-EWFC. Additionally, the Stevens coaching staff was named the EWFC Coaching Staff of the Year.

In the meet, Stevens got victories over Yeshiva University, Haverford College, Hunter College, the City College of New York, Vassar College and Drew University.

The epee and foil squads led the way on the day as they both produced 50-13 overall records across the seven matches. The sabre squad finished just behind with a 49-14 overall record.

The Ducks had nine different fencers finish with double-digit victories, led by Drobish who finished with an impressive 19-2 record at sabre.

Vs. Yeshiva (Win 27-0)

• Stevens started the day with a bang, blanking Yeshiva for their first of three total perfect wins on the day.
• The epee squad was led by McNeill who went a perfect 3-0 while Capra and Odaimi went 2-0 and Christine Chan and Kiera Mizzi added one win each.
• Strezewski and Allison Urban-Spillane both went 3-0 at foil while Caitlin Uang finished with a pair of wins and Persau added another.
• Barnes, Drobish and Kian Wissemann all finished with 3-0 records at sabre to complete the 27-0 sweep.

Vs. Haverford (Win 21-6)

• The Ducks got a narrow 5-4 win at epee thanks to two wins apiece by Capra and Odaimi as well as one from McNeill.
• The foil squad produced another perfect 9-0 record as Kubit, Persau and Strezewski all went 3-0.
• Drobish joined the three foilest with a perfect 3-0 record against Haverford while Wissemann and Barnes added two wins apiece for a 7-2 victory at sabre.

Vs. Hunter (Win 27-0)

• The second of three blankings on the day came against Hunter as the Ducks went 9-0 at each weapon.
• The epee squad used a balanced attack with three wins by Odiami, two from Capra and McNeill and one each by Chan and Mizzi.
• Much like they did in the first two matches, the foil squad remained perfect on the day with a 9-0 win thanks to three wins each by Kubit, Strezewski and Urban-Spillane.
• Sabre turned to Barnes, Drobish and Wissemann all for three wins to complete the perfect match.

Vs. CCNY (Win 27-0)

• The third of the perfect wins came against CCNY as Stevens has now shutout a total of four opponents this season.
• Epee picked up three wins by Capra and McNeill, two from Odaimi and one by Mizzi for the 9-0 win.
• Foil pushed their win streak to 36 consecutive bouts after Strezewski and Persau went 3-0, Urban-Spillane finished 2-0 and Kubit finished 1-0.
• Barnes and Drobish produced three wins each at sabre while Wissemann added two and Bayla Gellerstein produced another for the sweep.

Vs. Vassar (Win 19-8)

• The victory against the Brewers began with a 5-4 win at epee for the Ducks thanks to three wins from Capra and one each by McNeill and Odaimi.
• The foil squad finally saw their win streak come to an end, but still managed to grab a 6-3 victory after Kubit won three bouts, Strezewski won two and Persau won one.
• The most lopsided weapon in the matchup was at sabre where the Ducks won 8-1 as Barnes and Drobish went 3-0 and Wissemann and Gabriella Onelli added one victory apiece.

Vs. JHU (Loss 18-9)

• Odaimi won two bouts and McNeill and Capra won one each as the epee squad narrowly fell 5-4.
• Foil could not manage a better fate as they dropped a 7-2 decision with both points for the Ducks coming from Persau.
• Drobish went 2-1 and Barnes added another in a 6-3 loss at sabre.
• The Blue Jays finished the meet with the epee, foil and sabre EWFC Fencers of the Year.

Vs. Drew (Win 19-8)

• The final matchup of the day was Stevens' fourth against Drew this season and the Ducks are now 4-0 against the Rangers this season.
• The epee squad with 9-0 versus Drew after Capra, McNeill and Odaimi all went 3-0.
• Stevens won a 6-3 decision at foil thanks to a 3-0 record by Kubit, two wins from Persau and one more by Strezewski.
• Drobish got a pair of wins and Barnes and Wissemann added one each as sabre fell 5-4.

From the Strips (Head Coach Linda Vollkommer-Lynch)

• "Although JHU ended up winning the meet, we had a great showing with seven All-Conference fencers and a strong runner-up finish. We came so close to winning the epee weapon title but couldn't pull out the win against Johns Hopkins and lost 5-4. Still, it was an exciting day especially considering we broke the record for most wins in our 46-year history."

Next Up

• Stevens will compete in the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association Championships Saturday, Feb. 29 starting at 8:00 a.m.
• The Ducks finished third overall at the NIWFA Championships last season.

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