LA JOLLA, Calif. — The start of the 2026-27 fencing season will be in La Jolla this weekend on the UC San Diego campus as the Tritons welcome six teams for the West Invitational.
 
The two-day competition will take place in Main Gym and the adjacent Rec Gym. UC San Diego will compete seven times across Saturday and Sunday, with all but one of the Tritons' matches taking place in Main Gym.
 
Spectators are welcome in either gym. Admission is free, but parking permits are required seven days a week on the UC San Diego campus. Parking demand will also be impacted by this week's Homecoming celebrations.
 
THE UC SAN DIEGO SCHEDULE
All times Pacific and subject to change. Matches will take place in Main Gym unless otherwise noted.
 
Saturday, Nov. 7
10:30 a.m. vs Brandeis
11:45 a.m. vs Ohio State
1:30 p.m. vs Stanford
2:45 p.m. vs Northwestern (Rec Gym)
 
Sunday, Nov. 8
9:15 a.m. vs Incarnate Word
10:30 a.m. vs Air Force
11:45 a.m. vs Brandeis
 
FULL SCHEDULE
Saturday, Nov. 7
Main Gym
8:00 a.m. – Ohio State vs Stanford
9:15 a.m. – Air Force vs Ohio State
10:30 a.m. – UC San Diego vs Brandeis
11:45 a.m. – UC San Diego vs Ohio State
1:30 p.m. – UC San Diego vs Stanford
2:45 p.m. – Stanford vs Air Force
4:00 p.m. – Incarnate Word vs Ohio State
 
Rec Gym
9:15 a.m. – Stanford vs Brandeis; Northwestern vs Incarnate Word
10:30 a.m. – Air Force vs Incarnate Word
11:45 a.m. – Incarnate Word vs Stanford; Northwestern vs Brandeis
1:30 p.m. – Ohio State vs Brandeis; Air Force vs Northwestern
2:45 p.m. – UC San Diego vs Northwestern; Incarnate Word vs Brandeis
 
Sunday, Nov. 8
Main Gym
8:00 a.m. – Northwestern vs Incarnate Word
9:15 a.m. – UC San Diego vs Incarnate Word
10:30 a.m. – UC San Diego vs Air Force
11:45 a.m. – UC San Diego vs Brandeis
 
Rec Gym
8:00 a.m. – Stanford vs Brandeis
9:15 a.m. – Air Force vs Brandeis; Stanford vs Northwestern
10:30 a.m. – Incarnate Word vs Brandeis
 
AGAINST THE BEST
Both Triton teams enter the season ranked No. 15 nationally. The Tritons are also No. 11 in men's epee, No. 13 in women's foil and No. 14 in women's epee.
 
Ohio State and Stanford also have both programs in the Top 15 nationally. Northwestern's women's team is No. 6, with the school not sponsoring a men's team. The Air Force men are tied with the Triton men for the No. 15 ranking.
 
Brandeis and Incarnate Word are the only two schools competing this weekend without national collegiate rankings. Brandeis is one of the top Division III schools, with the men's team ranked No. 4 and the women's team ranked No. 7 in the DIII-specific rankings.
 
POSTSEASON PREVIEW
UC San Diego is a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) for fencing. The three-team conference also includes Air Force and Incarnate Word, with the Tritons set to face both schools on Sunday.
 
The NCAA West Region consists of the three MPSF schools and Stanford. The Tritons will square off with Stanford on Saturday.
 
This year's NCAA West Regional and MPSF Championships will also be in La Jolla. UC San Diego will host both events at LionTree Arena Mar. 13-14.
 
MEET THE COACHES
Head coach Juan Ignacio Calderon is in his ninth season at the helm of Triton fencing and 10th at UC San Diego. For the first time, he will have two full-time assistant coaches. Konstantin Lokhanov returns for his second season coaching saber, while Ania Tibbetts joins the Tritons this season to coach foil.
 
The coaching staff is joined by Dave Burgess, who is in his 25th season as armorer. Brandon Chien '22 returns to his alma mater for the first time this season as a volunteer assistant coach. Sasha Slobodsky is the team's student manager.
 
MEET THE SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
UC San Diego welcomes 11 newcomers to the squad for the 2026-27 season. There are 27 returning scholar-athletes on the team, including 2026 All-Americans Nurzhan Abzhanov and Katherine Kim.
 
ALL-AMERICAN STATUS
Abzhanov and Kim were joined as Honorable Mention All-Americans at last year's National Collegiate Fencing Championships by Sunny Sharma. The Tritons' three All-American awards in one season are tied for second-most in program history.
 
Abzhanov and Sharma are both epeeists. Sharma graduated at the end of last season, with Abzhanov returning to start his sophomore year.
 
Kim is a foilist. The now-junior is a two-time All-American after earning Second Team honors as a freshman in 2025.
 
BACK-TO-BACK
The Triton women won last year's MPSF Championship, marking their second-straight team title. Four Tritons won individual conference championships last season:

• Nurzhan Abzhanov (men's epee)
• Zara Fearns (women's saber, graduated)
• Katherine Kim (women's foil)
• Jacob Levy (men's foil, graduated) 

COUNTING THE HONORS
The 2025-26 season brought UC San Diego a number of accolades both on and off the strips. All-MPSF honors were earned by 12 Tritons, with 11 being named All-Region.
 
Katherine Kim was the MPSF Women's Fencer of the Year for the second-straight season, with Juan Ignacio Calderon being selected as the conference's Head Coach of the Year.
 
Nurzhan Abzhanov and Piper Randolph were the MPSF Newcomers of the Year and were finalists for the same award at the national level. The duo joined Kim and Sunny Sharma at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships in March.
 
On the academic side, 32 Tritons received All-Academic honors from the United States Fencing Coaches Association. The MPSF gave similar honors to 19 Tritons, while five UC San Diego scholar-athletes earned Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators.
 
2027 POSTSEASON
After the NCAA West Regional and MPSF Championships in La Jolla, qualified fencers will compete at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships Mar. 25-28. Duke will host this year's edition at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
 
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.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT
The UC San Diego women will welcome Wellesley to Main Gym for a match on Jan. 13.
 
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.