The Fairleigh Dickinson women's fencing team competed at the Philadelphia Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 21, in Philadelphia, PA where the Knights took on UPenn, Temple, Cornell, North Carolina and Duke.

The sabre started off well by scoring five of nine victories over UPenn and Cornell.  Junior Sophia Bischof (Bonn, Germany/Albert Einstein Gymnasium) and sophomore Hanna Heldenmuth (Miami, Fla./Keystone National) finished the day with matching 6-9 records in sabre. Junior Genele Streitz (Mendham, NJ/West Morris Mendham High School) and freshman Kathryn Heaney (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) compiled 2-7 and 0-6 marks, respectively. 

In epee,  FDU gave Temple all it could handle before falling by a 5-4 margin. Senior Annie Kazarjan (Budapest, Hungary/Koecsey Ferenc Gimnazium) led the way with a 5-10 eppe record. Fellow senior Evgeniya Tyrtova (Omst, Russia/Liceum #66) wound up with a 2-13 record for the day, while junior Christine Forsythe (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown) finished 4-11.

In foil, the Knights' Alexis Camara (Tampa, FL/Freedom), Yeliz Inalman (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) and Meena Murugappan (Lusaka, Zambia/The International School of Lusaka ) gained experience while facing some top competition on the day. 

The next action for the Burgundy and Blue will be at the Northwestern Duals in Evanston, IL.  The competition is scheduled for Feb. 4 and 5.