Jan. 25, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. - Cleveland State opened the spring semester at the Northwestern Duals on Jan. 22-23 in Evanston, Ill. Ranked No. 3 in the Midwest, the men's foil team posted a 7-1 mark, losing only to UC-San Diego, 6-3.

Newcomer Omer Deleeuw -- a former Israeli National Junior Champion and World Cup foilist -- went 21-3 in his Cleveland State debut. Mike Merker posted a 19-5 record on the weekend to improve to 40-5 on the year. In women's epee action, Shariah Pratt went 13-14, while Pam Marvinney earned 10 victories.

"The three members of our foil team have such different styles, that it really makes it difficult for our opponents to prepare for," head coach Jim Sager noted. "Overall, I was pleased with our performance this weekend."

The fencing team is in action for the second straight week as the Vikings head to South Bend, Ind. for the Notre Dame Duals. Other teams competing include Detroit, Duke, Lawrence, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wayne State, Wisconsin and the host Irish.

"Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame are three of the top four teams in the country, so this will be one of our toughest competitions of the year," Sager pointed out. "I am looking for us to continue to get better each week. We have some new faces this semester that are only going to make us stronger as they are integrated into the lineup."