LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego fencing begins the 2023-24 season at the annual Western Invitational hosted by Air Force over two days in Colorado Springs on Nov. 4-5.
 
The Western Invitational takes place each season in November with some of the nation's best programs gathering to compete in a head-to-head combat. This year UC San Diego will join the strips with Air Force, Columbia, Harvard, Incarnate Word, Brandeis, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Stanford.
 
On the men's side several of the schools headed to the invite earned a top 10 ranking in the USFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll:
No. 1 Notre Dame
No. 2 Columbia
No. 4 Ohio State
No. 5 Harvard
No. 10 UC San Diego
No. 3 Brandeis (Division III)
 
The Triton women will face a similar strength of schedule as several women's teams earned a top 15 ranking on the USFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll:
No. 2 Notre Dame
No. 3 Columbia
No. 4 Harvard
No. 5 Northwestern
No. 5 Ohio State
No. 14 Stanford
No. 15 Air Force
No. 3 Brandeis (Division III)
 
Head Juan Ignacio commented on the difficulty of the event saying, "The West Invitational is perhaps the hardest meet of the season for two reasons: the field of competition we will be fencing and the fact that we are competing at 6,000 feet for nine hours both days." After the teams' solid performance at BladeRunner and several Tritons competing internationally over the summer, Calderon feels confident heading into the weekend.

Action begins at 7 a.m. PT each day. Fans can follow results from every duel live at FencingTimeLive.com. A video stream will be available for Pods A, B and C via the Air Force Athletics YouTube page (link will populate right before the event).

BOUT SCHEDULE

Day One - Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023

Round 1 (7:00-8:15 am)

Pod A-AF vs. IUW

Pod B-HAR vs. OSU

Pod C-UCSD vs. UNC

Pod D-STAN vs. ND

Bye-COL, BU, NU

Round 2 (8:15-9:30 am)

Pod A-AF vs. BU

Pod B-COL vs. UNC

Pod C-UCSD vs. ND

Pod D-UIW vs. NU (w) and UIW vs. OSU (m)

Bye-OSU (w), STAN, HAR

Round 3 (9:30-10:45)

Pod A-AF vs. NU (w) and AF vs. UNC (m)

Pod B-COL vs. STAN

Pod C-BU vs. ND

Pod D-HAR vs. UIW

Bye-UNC (w), OSU, UCSD

Round 4 (10:45-12:00)

Pod A-STAN vs. UNC

Pod B-COL vs. OSU

Pod C-HAR vs. ND

Pod D-NU vs. UCSD (w) and BU vs. UIW (w)

Bye-UIW (m), BU (m), UCSD (m), AF

Break - 12:00-12:30

Round 5 (12:30-1:45)

Pod A-AF vs. ND

Pod B-COL vs. UCSD

Pod C-BU vs. STAN

Pod D-HAR vs. NU (w) and OSU vs. UIW (w)

Bye-HAR (m), UNC, OSU (m), UIW (m)

Round 6 (1:45-3:00)

Pod A-AF vs. COL 

Pod B-UIW vs. ND

Pod C-BU vs. OSU

Pod D-UNC vs. NU (w) and HAR vs. UCSD (m)

Bye-UCSD (w), UNC (m), HAR (w), STAN

Round 7 (3:00-4:15)

Pod A-ND vs. UNC

Pod B-COL vs. UIW

Pod C-OSU vs. UCSD

Pod D-HAR vs. STAN

Bye-AF, BU, NU

Day Two - Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023

Round 1 (7:00-8:15 am)

Pod A-AF vs. HAR

Pod B-OSU vs. STAN

Pod C-UCSD vs. UIW

Pod D-BU vs. NU (w) and BU vs. UNC (m)

Bye-UNC (w), COL

Round 2 (8:15-9:30 am)

Pod A-AF vs. OSU

Pod B-STAN vs. UIW

Pod C-UCSD vs. BU

Pod D-HAR vs. UNC

Bye-UNC (w), COL

Round 3 (9:30-10:45)

Pod A-AF vs. COL (m) and COL vs. NU (w)

Pod B-STAN vs. UCSD

Pod C-UNC vs. OSU (m)

Pod D-BU vs. UNC (w) and BU vs. UIW (m)

Bye-HAR, AF (w), UIW (w), OSU (w)

Round 4 (10:45-11:00)

Pod A-AF vs. UCSD

Pod B-COL vs. BU

Pod C-UIW vs. UNC

Pod D-STAN vs. NU (w)

Bye-STAN (m)

Break/Air Force Senior Day Ceremony (11:00-12:00)

Round 5 (1:00-2:15)

Pod A-AF vs. STAN

Pod B-COL vs. UIW (w) and COL vs. UCSD (w)

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2023-24 CAPTAINS
 
Team Captains
Larry Song – Men's Foil
Janna Aboudaher – Women's Saber
 
Academic Captain
Jason Chin – Men's Foil
 
Squad Captains
Saber:
Phileas Auray – Men's Saber
Zara Fearns – Women's Saber
 
Epee:
Sunny Sharma – Men's Epee
Renee Zuhars – Women's Epee
 
Foil:
Jacob Levy – Men's Foil
Kyra Wu – Women's Foil
 
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TRITON MEN RANKED NO. 10 IN USFCA PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
After a solid 2022-23 season, the Triton men return to the strips ranked at No. 10 in the nation on the USFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. Sending five men to the 2023 NCAA Championships last season, UC San Diego men's fencing returns three of those qualifiers for the 2023-24 season.
 

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THE WEAPONS
• Epee
Epee is the heaviest of the weapons. The target to score points is the entire body. It is the only weapon where points can be awarded to both sides if there is a double touch.
• Foil
Foil is the lightest of the three weapons and enacts a rule called right-of-way. Whoever is coming forward with the attack gets the point unless their opponent takes the right-of-way from them by parrying (deflecting/blocking) their blade. The target area for scoring points is the chest and the torso, marked by a light metallic vest called a lamé. 
• Sabre
Sabre also employs the right-of-way rule, but sabreurs and sabreuses slash instead of stab. Sabre touches happen so quickly that the referees won't even start the three-minute clock used to time the bout.

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FENCING GLOSSARY

• Advance: Take a step towards one's opponent.
• Attack: Movement or series of movements by which a fencer tries to score a point. In foil and saber, the fencer who attacks first acquires the "right-of-way." In order to execute an attack properly (i.e. one that the referee will acknowledge), the fencer's hand must be clearly extending towards their opponent's valid target in a threatening manner.
• Beat: Sharp tap on the opponent's blade to initiate an attack or provoke a reaction.
• En Garde: Position taken before fencing commences.
• Feint: A false attack intended to get a defensive reaction from the opposing fencer, thus creating the opportunity for a genuine attack ("feint-disengage attack").
• Fleche: Explosive, running attack (foil and epee only).
• Flunge: Action unique to sabre – a combination of a lunge and a fleche. Evolved recently after the FIE modified sabre rules in 1992 to prohibit running attacks.
• Lunge: Most common attacking technique, in which the fencer launches themselves at their opponent by pushing off from the back leg (which generally remains stationary).
• Parry: Defensive action in which a fencer blocks his opponent's blade.
• Point-in-Line: Action in which the fencer, who is generally out of attacking range, points their weapon at their opponent with their arm fully extended. A fencer who establishes a point in line has right-of-way, and their opponent cannot attack until they remove the blade from line by executing a beat.
• Recover: The return to the en guarde position after lunging.
• Riposte: Defender's offensive action immediately after parrying their opponent's attack.
• Second Intention: A tactic in which a fencer executes a convincing, yet false, action in hopes of drawing a true, committed reaction from their opponent.
• Stop Hit, Stop Cut (sabre only): A counter-action made at the moment of an opponent's hesitation, feint, or poorly executed attack. To be awarded the point, the fencer attempting to stop hit must clearly catch their opponent's tempo. Hence, if their Stop Hit is not "in time," the referee may award the touch to their attacker.
• Strip: Fencing area, 14 meters long by 2 meters wide.
• Touch: Score a point.

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BE SOCIAL

The UC San Diego Fencing Team can be found on Facebook, Instagram (@ucsdfencing), and Twitter (@ucsdfencing). 
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.