Nov. 2, 2008

NORTHAMPTON, MA - The Pioneer Women sent their largest squad ever to the Big One Invitational at Smith College on Saturday and came away with a bronze medal performance from sophomore foil squad captain JoAnne Siskidis and a fifth place result from freshman Amanda Green in epee.

Siskidis started the day in great fashion, went 6-0 in the her preliminary pool and seeded second for the direct elimination part of the tournament. Her pool performance earned her a bye in the round of 64. She then went on to defeat Raluca Ursu of Mt. Holyoke 15-5 in the round of 32, Michelle Pintea from Boston College 15-14 in the sweet 16, and Wendy Chin from Wellesley 15-8 in the quarterfinals. Her day finished with a hard fought loss to the eventual champion Cordelia Link of MIT 15-11.

In addition to Siskidis' excellent result, freshman Alex Stamateris placed 33rd, junior Casey Zimmermann 50th, and Junior Jen Wysocki 66th.

"This is the best finish that Sacred Heart has had in foil i9n many years at this event," commented coach Dr. Tom Vrabel. "Jo has been working very hard on both her own game and on developing the abilities of her squad members. I am very happy to see her achieve this level of success. She really deserves it."

The epee squad was led by standout freshman Amanda Green, who seeded 12th after going 5-1 in the preliminary round. She received a bye to the round of 32 where she beat Breanna Peterman from MIT 10-2, and followed this by defeating Holly Kimball of Colby College 15-9 in the sweet 16. Amanda was then defeated in the quarterfinals 15-12 by the eventual tournament champion Emma Larkin from Brandeis. In addition to Green's medal winning performance, sophomore Allyson Ratis finished 14th, Senior Mary Dannegger 22nd, and Junior Alison Roach 46th.

"This was by far the best performance for an SHU epee squad in this event and Amanda' medal is the first one ever won by a Pioneer woman in epee," said Vrabel. "Epee will be the strongest overall weapon for us this season, and I look for these ladies to spearhead or efforts this year."

In saber, junior team captain Krista placed 9th, freshman Niamh Moynagh 23rd, junior Catie Sagevick 32nd, junior Courtney Perlee 37th and freshman Sara Graziosi 40th.

"Though they fenced hard, our saber squad was not at their best today," said Vrabel. "Knowing the dedication of this group, I know that they will work hard this week and be ready to give a strong performance this Sunday."

The Pioneer women are in action this Sunday at 10 AM at Vassar College with matches against Vassar, Drew, CCNY, and Yeshiva.