HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's fencing team will face its toughest test this season with bouts against four top-10 teams at the Northwestern Duals at the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion in Evanston, Ill. on Saturday, Feb. 2, and Sunday, Feb. 3.
 
Among the teams on the schedule for Head Coach Christian Rivera's Knights (6-8) during the two-day event are No. 1 Princeton, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 7 Northwestern, while Stanford, UC San Diego and North Carolina all received votes in the latest CollegeFencing360.com Top 10 Coaches Poll. Other opponents will include Wayne State, California Institute of Technology, Cleveland State, Lawrence and Detroit.
 
Last season at the always-competitive event, FDU compiled a 4-7 record, with wins over California Institute of Technology, Detroit, Lawrence and Cleveland State. Making her FDU debut, Alix Lerch (Puebla, Puebla, Mexico/Instituto Oriente) shined with a 25-6 mark in foil, while Hanna Heldenmuth (Miami, Fla./Keystone National) was FDU's top sabre performer with a 20-11 record.
 
The Knights are coming off a 2-4 day at the Philadelphia Invitational on Jan. 26. Wins over NJIT (16-11) and Drew (23-4) helped the squad reach six wins, passing last year's total of four.
 
After the weekend in Illinois, the Knights are set to return to New Jersey for the NJIT Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 9, in Newark.