Fencing, women's tennis have strong weekend showings

Road trips to Pennsylvania and Las Vegas might have logged up the travel miles, but the North Carolina fencing and women's tennis teams ignored the long trips and made the best of their weekends, notching several wins for the squads. Fencing After a short week and a long weekend, the North Carolina fencing team is catching its collective breath and looking back on a successful weekend in Pennsylvania. The men's team went 2-1 and the women's team 3-2 as both squads competed in the Philadelphia Dual Meet Invitational and did not get back to campus until 3 a.m. Monday. Coach Ron Miller said he was pleased with the outcome, especially after having just two practices. "We certainly didn't exceed our expectations but didn't fall below them, so it gives us something to build on for the spring," Miller said. Miller said the women's best showing came against Northwestern, to whom they lost 16-11. The team fenced strongly against the Wildcats, who are ranked sixth in the country. The women won against Johns Hopkins, Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickison. Tar Heels Patti Sanders and Jennifer Sawicki stood out in women's sabres, and Claire Brandow performed well in epees. Both teams lost to Pennsylvania, but Miller said the men's team had a strong showing against the Quakers. "Even though it was a loss, we showed a great deal of courage and a great deal of spirit," he said. The men's team routed Sacred Heart and beat Johns Hopkins. UNC sophomore John Powell was back to his usual success with the sabre in his first tournament since a semester abroad in Cairo. North Carolina junior Bobby Ziechmann also excelled in the sabres event. Women's tennis Most tennis players would be thrilled with seven victories in a weekend, including a singles win against the No. 3 ranked player in the country. Not Katrina Tsang. The North Carolina sophomore streaked to the finals of the singles and doubles competitions of the Freeman Memorial Tennis Championship in Las Vegas before she suffered her first defeats. "She wanted to win the tournament," UNC coach Brian Kalbas said. "She's just so driven, and the fact that she's not satisfied with just getting to the finals will propel her for the future to keep working hard and improving." Tsang shook off concerns about her offseason hip surgery with the strong performance. "To know that the surgery has not hurt her ability to compete at the highest level has got to give her a tremendous amount of confidence," Kalbas said. Tsang teamed up with junior Austin Smith in the doubles draw. Kalbas said he will see how the pair work during the next few weeks before deciding if they will be paired together for the remainder of the year. UNC will compete in its first team matches of its spring season Friday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center against Elon and UNC-Greensboro before traveling to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the University of Tennessee on Martin Luther King Day. "We just need to make sure this Friday we come ready to play hard and compete," Kalbas said. "I think our team is mentally and physically in a position to start the season off strong." Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.