MADISON, N.J. (February 18, 2024) – Four members of the Stevens Institute of Technology women's fencing team earned all-conference honors Sunday at the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) Championships, hosted by Drew University.

Senior Alana Schmitt earned first-team honors in sabre after a third-place finish, while graduate student Claire McNeill (fifth in epee), junior Arianna Daringa (seventh in sabre) and sophomore Emily Zgombic (ninth in foil) garnered all-league recognition in their respective weapons. The All-EWFC accolade was the third for McNeill, while Schmitt, Daringa and Zgombic each earned the honor for the second time. Stevens has earned at least four all-conference selections in every season in the 2000's. A student-athlete earns EWFC All-Conference recognition based on their finish in the direct elimination tournament held in the second part of the day: fencers finishing between first and fourth earn first-team honors, while fencers finishing fifth through ninth earn second-team accolades.

Additionally, the Ducks were named epee team champions after posting a 39-15 (.722 winning percentage) mark during the round robin dual portion of the event. The weapon title is the 11th in program history and the sixth for the epee group and the first since 2018. The sabre squad also had a strong day in posting a 38-16 (.704 winning percentage) mark on the day to finish tied for second. Rounding out the team's weapon performances, the foil team posted a 29-25 (.537 winning percentage) record and placed fourth.

Denison's Maggie Zhu was named Epee Fencer of the Year after winning the weapon's direct elimination round, while teammate Lal Ertun was the Foil Fencer of the Year. Johns Hopkins' Josephine Chang topped the field at sabre to earn Fencer of the Year honors. To round out the individual awards, senior Jasmine Chen was selected to the All-Academic Team, while Schmitt was elected to the Woman of the Year Team. 

In the round robin dual meet portion of the day, which is used to determine the final team dual, and weapon, standings, McNeill led the way with 15 victories, while first-year Grace Hicks joined Daringa in finishing with 13. Schmitt was the final Duck to post double-digit wins in the team portion of the competition, finishing with 12 as the Ducks went 4-2 on the day, with setbacks to eventual champion, Johns Hopkins, and a one-point loss to Denison in the third-place dual. By virtue of their 4-2 record, Stevens finished fourth in the team standings and close the dual season 23-17, winning 11 of the final 13 duals. Johns Hopkins topped 19-8 Wellesley in the championship round to claim the dual championship.

Stevens began the day with a 20-7 victory over Hunter, before earning a 21-6 win over Haverford to move to 2-0. A 25-2 margin over Yeshiva and a 20-7 decision over Drew to advance to a showdown with Johns Hopkins to determine the pool's champion. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays earned a 20-7 victory to advance to the championship match, while Stevens went on to face Denison in the third-place match, where the Big Red escaped with a 14-13 victory in the closest match in the six-year all-time series.

Over the course of the dual tournament, Stevens extended its winning streak to 46 against Hunter, to 10 against Haverford (in an interesting note, four of the 10 have been 21-6 decisions, including Sunday), to 45 against Yeshiva and to four against in-state rival Drew. 

The Rundown

• Against Hunter, five Ducks: Schmitt, Chen, Daringa, Hicks and junior Alyssa Ip each posted perfect records, while McNeill, Zgombic, first-year Akemi Rodriguez and junior Elizabeth MacDonald each went 2-1.
• It was the sabre squad that led the efforts against Haverford. Schmitt and Daringa each went 3-0 as sabre topped their counterparts 8-1. Six different fencers: MacDonald, Zgombic, Ip, McNeill, and juniors Renny Victoria and Sofia Savchuk each went 2-1 in helping the Ducks down the Fords.
• Stevens turned in a nearly perfect performance against Yeshiva, with epee and foil each posting shutout wins. A balanced effort saw 12 different fencers compete against the Maccabees, with 10 posting unblemished records.
• Since a setback to Drew last February, the Ducks have bested the Rangers in each of the four subsequent meetings, with three of the wins coming by double digits, including consecutive 13-point wins. Daringa, Schmitt, MacDonald, McNeill and Zgombic each went 3-0 to lead the Ducks' efforts.
• Against the Blue Jays, McNeill and Victoria each went 2-1 as the epee squad topped their counterparts. However, Johns Hopkins would win each of the other two weapons to earn the dual victory.
• In the final matchup of the day, Daringa, Schmitt and McNeill each went 3-0, while Hicks and Victoria each scored a pair of victories. Stevens edged Denison in both epee and sabre, with Denison overtaking the Ducks in the team score by virtue of winning foil. 
• Johns Hopkins would claim the team title sabre, while Denison were the foil champions. Across the three weapons Hopkins, Denison, Stevens and Wellesley each posted two top-two finishes. Drew earned the Roi Green Team Spirit Award (which Stevens won last year) and the staff at Denison were the Coaching Staff of the Year to round out the team awards. 

Top Performers

• Additionally, MacDonald, Ip, Victoria and Zgombic each totaled eight wins, while Savchuk added six. Senior Victoria Beke won all three of her matches, Chen and Rodriguez also finished with three wins. First-years Sharon Braun and Paris Sepulveda joined junior Nerissa Lundquist in posting a pair of victories Sunday to round out the individual wins.
• Impressively, the epee squad defeated all six opponents on the day, while sabre went 5-1 and foil went 4-2.

Up Next

• Stevens will head back to Madison, New Jersey in two weeks' time for the NIWFA Championships, which will be hosted by Drew on March 2. The annual NIWFA event will be the final event on the schedule prior to the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, which will also be hosted by Drew one week later.

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