WALTHAM, Mass., March 25, 2004 ¨C The third-ranked Penn State women¡¯s fencing team scored 48 points today to move into third place after the first four rounds of the 2004 Men¡¯s and Women¡¯s National Collegiate Fencing Championships at Brandeis University¡¯s Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.

Following the first day of competition, the top seven teams are aligned according to the United States Fencing Coaches Association¡¯s final national rankings. The Nittany Lions currently trail defending National Champion and day one leader Notre Dame by 15 points. Second-ranked Ohio State is in second place in the tournament standings, 11 points ahead of Penn State. The Nittany Lions lead fourth-place Penn by five points going into tomorrow¡¯s final three rounds of the round robin tournament.

Penn State was led in the first four rounds by three athletes who won nine of their 13 bouts. Defending women¡¯s epee National Champion Katarzyna Trzopek (Warsaw, Poland) earned an eighth-place standing after winning nine bouts and accumulating a +11 scoring margin. Co-captain Meredith Chin (Wynnewood, Pa.) reached seventh place in the women¡¯s foil with her nine victories and +13 scoring margin. Freshman standout Sophia Hiss (Oklahoma City, Okla.) maneuvered into fifth place in the women¡¯s saber with nine wins and a strong +17 scoring margin.

The Nittany Lions also received solid scoring support from their other three competitors. In the women¡¯s saber, three-time All-American Heather Brosnan (Portland, Ore.) scored seven points with her seven wins to reach ninth place. All-American sophomore Annekathrin Donath (Touber, Germany) finished day one close behind Chin in ninth place after winning eight bouts in the women¡¯s foil. Freshman Case Szarwark (Nashville, Tenn.) posted six points to close the day in 15th place in the extremely competitive women¡¯s epee bracket.

Penn State head coach Emmanuil Kaidanov was optimistic about Penn State¡¯s prospects for the remainder of the Championships. ¡°We started rather slowly,¡± said Kaidanov, ¡°but there are still three days ahead of us, so let¡¯s look forward.¡± ¡°We expect tomorrow to be a much better day for us,¡± concluded Kaidanov.

The final three rounds of the round robin portion of the women¡¯s tournament will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. The women¡¯s individual National Champions will be crowned following the Gold Medal Bouts, which are scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

For complete results throughout the four-day NCAA Fencing Championships, please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/ncaafencing/.