COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — UC San Diego fencing's first collegiate event of the season is this Saturday and Sunday on the Air Force campus in Colorado. The Triton women will have nine matches over the two days, while the Triton men will fence eight times.

Air Force and UC San Diego both compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) for fencing. The Academy's Cadet Gymnasium hosted the 2025 MPSF Championships, with the Tritons winning both team titles for the first time in program history.

The action begins at 9:00 a.m. MST on Saturday and 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. Spectators wishing to attend will need to fill out Air Force's base access form.

THE UC SAN DIEGO SCHEDULE (All times Mountain and subject to change)
Saturday, Nov. 22
9:00 a.m. vs Ohio State
10:15 a.m. vs Air Force
11:30 a.m. vs Columbia
1:30 p.m. vs Brandeis
2:45 p.m. vs Tufts (Women)
4:00 p.m. vs Incarnate Word (Men)
 
Sunday, Nov. 23
8:00 a.m. vs Stanford
9:15 a.m. vs Northwestern (Women)
10:30 a.m. vs Denison (Women) and Columbia (Men)
11:45 a.m. vs Incarnate Word (Women) and Brandeis (Men)
 
AGAINST THE BEST
The UC San Diego men's team is currently ranked No. 15 nationally. Half of the squad's matches this weekend will be against ranked teams. The Tritons will face No. 1 Columbia twice and No. 5 Ohio State and No. 11 Stanford once.
 
The Triton women will face four ranked teams: No. 2 Columbia, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Stanford.
 
MEET THE TEAM
Head coach Juan Ignacio Calderon is in his eighth season leading UC San Diego. This year's team features 12 new additions to go along with 26 returning scholar-athletes.
 
A HISTORIC 2024-25 CAMPAIGN
Last season ended with both the men's and women's teams winning the MPSF team championship, an accomplishment neither program had achieved previously. The Tritons also had three fencers capture individual conference titles: Zehra Anbarlilar (women's foil), Zara Fearns (women's saber) and Jacob Levy (men's foil).
 
Three was also the team's magic number at last year's NCAA West Regional Championships. Alexandra Cody (women's saber), Katherine Kim (women's foil) and Sunny Sharma (men's epee) won titles in their respective events.
 
Five Tritons qualified for the 2025 National Collegiate Fencing Championships: Alexandra Cody, Dayus Gohel, Katherine Kim, Alice Lan and Sunny Sharma. Of the eight Tritons who combined for individual MPSF titles, regional titles and national championship berths, seven return for 2025-26.
 
COUNTING THE HONORS
Last year's strong performance saw the Tritons rewarded with a number of athletic and academic awards. The squads combined for 13 All-Region and 14 All-MPSF recognitions.
 
Katherine Kim finished seventh at the 2025 National Collegiate Fencing Championships to earn Second Team All-American honors. The then-freshman was also named the MPSF Women's Fencer of the Year. She was joined by Dayus Gohel and Alice Lan in earning major MPSF awards as both were named Newcomer of the Year. All three are back this season.
 
The team's academic success was recognized with 31 fencers receiving All-Academic awards from the United States Fencing Coaches Association and 18 fencers selected to the MPSF All-Academic Team. Five Tritons were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
 
2026 POSTSEASON
This year's NCAA West Regional and MPSF Championships will be hosted by Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, March 7-8. The West region consists of Air Force, Incarnate Word, Stanford and UC San Diego. MPSF teams are everyone in that region except for Stanford.
 
The 2026 National Collegiate Fencing Championships will be March 19-22. Notre Dame will host this year's event in South Bend, Indiana.
 
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
 
TRITON FENCING TALK
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. New episodes of Tritoncast are available on the most popular podcasting apps and on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on X @Tritoncast.
 
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO FENCING
The UC San Diego Fencing Team can be found on Facebook, Instagram and X. The team's handle is @ucsdfencing.
 
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR
For the latest Triton fencing apparel and accessories, click here.
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will be back in action Jan. 16-17 for the Philadelphia Invitational.
 
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.

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 their 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.
 
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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 39 have garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.