March 3, 2008

FAIRFIELD, CT - On the strength of Pioneer team captain Krista Bacci's outstanding fourth place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional QUalifying tournament on Sunday, the Sacred Heart Pioneers will be represented at the NCAA Fencing Championships in Columbus, OH in two weeks. In a field of 41 competitors in women's saber, Bacci had the best performance of her career.

"This is a very grueling event, where the fencers fence in three rounds of pools of five to seven fencers in order to qualify for a final pool of 11," said head coach Dr. Tom Vrabel.

Seeding 15th going in to the tournament, Bacci knew that she would have to finish no worse than sixth in order to have a chance at selection to NCAA Nationals, since nine saber fencers were to be selected from the highly competitve Northeast region that includes teams such as former NCAA Champions St. John's, Columbia, Harvard and NYU.

Bacci was one of the dominant fencers from the start of the day, placing second after the first round, fifth after the second round and sixth in the all-important third round to get to the 11-women final.

In the final, she went 7-3, beating United States Olympian and 1st team All-American Emily Jacobsen from Columbia and other former All-Americans such as Randy Alevi from Brown and Alexa Weingarten from Harvard. After her stunning performance, Bacci was the sevent of the nine qualifiers from the region.

"We are all so happy for Krista and the way that she fenced," said Vrabel "I really believe that Krista is the fencing team's compliment to other great Pioneer women athletes such as Amanda Pape. Her dedication and work ethic is outstanding, and her mental toughness is amazing."

Bacci's performance outdoes her unbelievable performance from last year when she fenced with a severely sprained ankle and just missed qualifying.

"Since she was coming in to the tournament healthy, I knew that Krista had an excellent chance to qualify, but you never know how the day will unfold, especially since she had to be clicking on all cylinders to make the top five or six," Vrabel continued. "Not only did she use her athleticism and technique, but she was able to work with me to adapt her strategies as the day progressed. This is critical when you have to fence an opponent two or three times in the same day."

"Krista was very effective yesterday at maintaining a very high level of concentration over a 25 bout event" said Vrabel. "I expect her to have a great NCAA tournament. The way she is fencing right now, All-American status is not out of the question for Krista. With her level of self confidence, if it is possible for her to will her way to that level, she will make it happen."

Bacci was not the only Pioneer saber fencer that had a fine tournament, with freshmen Anna Hanley and Kayla Cronin placing 13th and 20th in the competition.

"Anna finished well and just missed making the final 11", said Vrabel. "She had a great freshmen year and we are proud of her accomplishments. Kayla is on a similar track that Krista was on two years ago. Her continuous improvement is a result of her very hard work and dedication. The way that she is progressing I see a berth to the NCAA championships in her career as a Pioneer athlete."

"Krista and Kayla's develpoment is proof that we are on the right track with our approach to the fencing program here at SHU. I am very excited about where we are going and that we will become a major player in Northeastern Collegiate fencing."