If Saturday's tournament at the 29th-annual Temple Fencing Collegiate Open serves as any indication of what the women's fencing team can expect from their freshmen this season, the Quakers do not need to worry.
Penn brought home six medals, including three earned by freshmen, in a tournament that featured athletes from 32 different schools.
"I feel like we surpassed my expectations for the weekend," Penn All-American senior fencer Ilana Sinkin said. "We had a very young team, and I didn't know what to expect."
The Quakers dominated the women's foil tournament, advancing two of their own fencers, Sinkin and freshman Laura Paragano, to the gold medal round. The match between Paragano and Sinkin went into sudden-death overtime, during which Paragano was able to defeat Sinkin to earn the gold medal.
"I was a little surprised," Sinkin said. "Out of everyone I fenced against, she knew how to fence me the best."
In the women's epee, freshman Alexandra Kozyra and junior Kathryn Anthony advanced to the final four but lost their semifinal matches. They ended up tied for third, bringing home two medals for the Red and Blue.
The Quakers also dominated the sabre, as sophomore Danielle Kamis defeated her teammate, freshman Dominika Franciskowicz, to advance to the finals, but lost in the gold-medal round against Duke freshman- - and Olympic bronze medalist - Rebecca Ward.
"Two [medals] in each weapon was an awesome finish," Sinkin said. "That means we are strong overall in each weapon, which is really good going into the season.
Coach Dave Micahnik said that he felt encouraged by his team's performance, adding that, apart from the medal winners, he saw a lot of promise in many of the team's other freshman fencers.
"Freshman sabre fencer Noelle Tay fenced very effectively, and Jenna Stahl, who is a sophomore epee fencer, also had a very good meet," Micahnik said. "I think the team overall had a pretty good meet."
