Feb. 11, 2009

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Cleveland State men's and women's fencing teams were in action over the weekend at the Notre Dame Duals. The men's team went 2-8, while the women posted an 0-9 mark.

"The focus of our weekend applied toward developing our fencer's strategy during the bouts," head coach Andy Tulleners said. "And I think it paid off with an overall improvement to all of the fencer's performances.

"I am very pleased with how our fencers kept their composure under pressure. By remaining calm throughout the two days, I believe we had more consistent results from our last meet. This was key in many of the teams individual improvements and victories.

John Marshall led the men's epee team, defeating all three of Notre Dame's epee team members. In addition, Liran Gross had a come-from-behind win against Air Force with the foil.

On the women's side, Brooke Snyder led the Vikings with victories over Notre Dame and Northwestern.

"The sabre team saw the best improvement from the previous week with Danielle Shepard and Bryan Twitchell showing considerable improvement," Tulleners said. "They were moving better and were able to set up their technically superior opponents with an improved sense of distance and timing when they performed their actions."

The Vikings will be back in action on Feb. 28-March 1 when CSU competes in the Midwest Conference Championships at Notre Dame.