The final day of the 2009 Junior World Championships (April 16) featured four different U.S. college fencers competing in the women's epee team event (the second-most collegians in any of the six weapons, trailing only the six in men's sabre). Notre Dame sophomore Eva Nelip proved to be the most successful of the 15 total U.S. collegians who competed in the '09 JWCs, as Nelip placed second in both the individual and team events for women's epee (Poland lost the gold-medal match by a single point, in overtime).
Another ND fencer, freshman Courtney Hurley, and Princeton freshman Susannah Scanlan played key roles in the third-place finish by the United States women's epee team, while Penn State freshman Nina Westman and her Sweden teammates placed eighth (a rundown of each team's matches follows below). Hurley was +11 in touches (49-38) during the four U.S. team matches, while Scanlan was -9 (45-54) and Westman won 11 of 20 touches (+2) in Sweden's two matches.
Hurley currently is ranked second among the world's under-20 women's epeeists, while Nelip is third, Scanlan 19th and Westman 25th.
Ewa Nelip (left)
Nelip – who has reached the NCAA semifinals in each of the past two seasons – won nearly 60% of the touches in her bouts (47-33) and finished the day +14, spanning top-seeded Poland's matches against #17 Czech Republic (45-31), #9 Sweden (45-36), #13 Hungary (45-25) and #2 Russia (44-45). She combined with countrywomen Dominika Mosler (who lost a 15-9 semifinal vs. Nelip), Katarzyna Dabrowa and Martyna Szymanska to form the Poland team that narrowly missed claiming the gold medal.
During the round-of-16 win over the Czechs, Nelip was +6 in touches (15-9) – including 5-3 vs. Gabriela Vacinova in round-3, 5-5 vs. Dominika Doubova (rd-5) and 5-1 vs. Petra Myskova to break the match open (35-20) in round-7. The quarterfinal vs. Sweden was a tighter battle, with Nelip going +4 (9-5) while Westman was 5-7 in touches during her two bouts vs. Poland.
Westman went 1-2 in round-1 vs. Poland's Mosler, followed by a 0-0 stalemate between Nelip and Sanna Gars in the second round. Two rounds later, Nelip edged Westman (5-4) as Poland extended to a 12-9 lead (Nelip also beat Westman by one touch, 4-3, in the '09 NCAAs). In round-7, Nelip inherited a 22-14 lead and pushed the cushion into double-digits following her 4-1 bout vs. Emma Vaggo (Nelip also beat Vaggo in the individual event, 5-2). Sweden then subbed in Johanna Bergdahl for Westman and round-8 produced a flurry of 32 points, with Bergdahl topping Dabrowa (18-14) to keep the Swedes alive (33-40) – but Mosler closed out the win, 5-3 vs. Gars.
Hungary upset #5 Italy in another quarterfinal (45-42), but Poland proved to be too strong and rolled to a 20-point win over the Hunagarians in the semifinals. Nelip's +6 showing (13-7) included winning margins in all three of her bouts: 4-3 vs. Edina Antal (rd-2), 4-2 vs. Dorina Budai (rd-4) and 5-2 vs. Edina Bekefi (rd-7; making the team score 35-21).
The gold-medal bout produced a thrilling finish, befitting a matchup between the world's top two teams. All three of the Russian fencers – Violetta Kolobova (6th), Evgenia Seregina (10th) and Yana Zvereva (16th) – currently are ranked among the world's top under-20 women's epeeists (Seregina placed 5th in the '09 JWC individual event, while Kolobova was 10th). Nelip scored 10 touches vs. Russia but allowed 12, including a split in round-3 (4-4) vs. Seregina, leaving the Poles with a 10-8 lead. Nelip returned to the strip in round-5 and again split eight touches (for an 18-16 Russia lead), this time vs. Kolobova (who had lost to Nelip three days earlier, 11-15, in the round-of-16).
The see-saw match swung back in Poland's favor, following Mosler's 4-0 bout vs. Seregina, but Zvereva went 4-2 vs. Nelip (rd-7) for a 22-22 team score. Darya Pozharova then edged Dabrowa by one touch (8-7), giving the Russian's a 30-29 lead, and round-9 was more of them same as Mosler and Kolobova each scored 15 touches. Russia was on track to win in regulation (39-34, with 0:41 remaining) – but Mosler rallied to tie the score (44-44) with 0:06 on the clock (Kolobova scored the winning touch, 12 seconds into OT).
Courtney Hurley (left)
Hurley's +11 day (49-38) helped the #6-ranked team USA post early wins over #11 Canada (35-26) and #3 Ukraine (45-35), along with the semifinal loss to #2 Russia (35-45) and a victorious third-place match vs. #13 Hungary (45-40). The win over Canada featured double-digit touches from Hurley (14-8) and Scanlan (10-5), with the other bouts fenced by high-schoolers Francesca Bassa (9-11) and Hannah Safford (2-2).
The Americans could have been derailed in the round-of-16, as Canada trailed by only three points (19-22) entering the ninth and final round. But Hurley proved her worth as the U.S. closer, going 13-7 vs. Gabrielle Lavoie to deliver the team victory. Hurley fenced only one other round vs. Canada (1-1 vs. 20th-place individual finisher Jannelle Mackoff , in rd-5), shortly after a solid pair of early rounds by Scanlan: 3-2 vs. Lavoie (rd-2) and 6-1 vs. Kinga Kovacs (rd-4; pushing team lead to 11-5). Scanlan later waged a defensive battle in round-7 vs. Janelle Mackoff, who won two of the three touches to slice Canada's deficit to 17-19. Bassa got the point back (3-2 vs. Kovacs) and Hurley then closed out the win.
Susannah Scanlan (left)
All three of the top U.S. epeeists – Hurley (10-6/+4), Scanlan (16-15/+1) and Bassa (19-14/+1) – played key roles in the upset win over a Ukraian team that included the world's top-ranked u-20 women's epeeist (Anfisa Pochkalova; an '09 JWS semifinailist) and Kseniya Pantelyeyeva, who placed 15th at the '09 JWCs. Hurley opened the match with a 5-2 bout vs. Pantelyeyeva, and Scanlan then turned in an impressive 5-1 showing against elite foe Pochkalova in round-2. Two rounds later, Scanlan split 12 touches with Pantelyeyeva (yielding a 20-12 score, in favor of the U.S.) and the margin stayed the same when Hurley and Olha Zadorozhna fenced to a scoreless stalemate in round-6. Zadorozhna did manage to outscore Scanlan in round-7 (8-5), but Hurley ultimately secured the 10-point team win by going 5-4 vs. Pochkalova in the final round.
The U.S.-Russia match was tight through the middle rounds, until Kolobova doubled up Bassa in round-6 (12-6, for a 27-20 Russian lead). Hurley was -5 (7-12) in the semifinal – after going 2-1 vs. Seregina in round-1, 0-2 vs. Zvereva (rd-5) and 5-6 vs. Kolobova in the final round – while Scanlan (14-17/-3) outscored Seregina in round-4 (3-0; 14-13 team lead), in addition to fencing against Kolobova (5-9; rd-2) and Zvereva (6-8; rd-7).
Hungary – despite having no top-20 fencers on its team – had an impressive showing in the JWC team event, with a quarterfinal win over Italy and near-victory over the U.S. The third-place match was tied entering the final round (35-35), which then featured another strong closing effort by Hurley (10-5, vs. Edina Antal) that secured bronze medals for the Americans. Hurley was +6 (18-12) vs. the Hungarians, while Scanlan went -4 in two bouts (5-9), Bassa split her 34 touches (17-17) and Safford had a key 5-2 opening bout (vs. Antal).
Hurley matched Safford's effort in round-2 (5-2 vs. Edina Bekefi, for a 10-4 team score), but Hungary cut into the lead when Dorina Budai went 7-5 vs. Bassa and Bekefi outscored Scanlan, 6-5 (leaving the U.S. margin at 20-17). The teams then traded 5-3 bouts – with Bassa besting Antal; Budai out-touching Hurley – and the match remained a three-point battle, after Bassa and Bkefi split 14 touches in round-7. Budai's shutout of Scanlan (3-0) produced a 35-35 score, setting up the dramatic final round for Hurley and Antal.
Nina Westman (left)
Sweden opened the team competition with a classic defensive battle vs. 8th-ranked Germany, as neither team reached 20 touches (the Swedes eked out a 17-16 win). Westman was a key part of the victory, after winning six touches and surrendering only two: 0-0 vs. Sina Dostert (rd-1), rd-4 2-2 vs. Cheryl Jahn (rd-4) and 4-0 vs. Ricarda Multerer (rd-8). Germany owned a 9-7 lead entering round-8, but Westman turned Sweden's two-point deficit into a two-point lead (11-9). Sweden's Sanne Gars and Germany's Sina Dostert met in the final round, with Dostert winning five of the first eight touches for a 14-14 score. Gars put Sweden back in the lead with 59 seconds left in the round, Dostert re-tied the score four seconds later and a double-touch (0:36) sent the bout into overtime – with Gars scoring the final touch 19 seconds into OT.