PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Penn State women’s fencing team opened the 2025-2026 regular season at the Nikki Franke Invitational at Temple University in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 25. The season opener competition will feature individual competition, with Saturday reserved for women’s competition and Sunday for the men’s team.
Competition for Penn State began at 9:30 a.m. with women’s epee, which saw Sophia Abashidze, Lena Gyenes and Yuna Tamura. Eve Scott, Euynu Kim and Mia Novick participated in women’s saber competition for the Nittany Lions.
In the first round of epee pools, Tamura, a freshman fencer, advanced past the first round after going undefeated. Freshman fencer Gyenes earned her first two collegiate victories in the first round of pools and Abashidze earned her first victory of the season. Gyenes finished 22nd, Tamura 26th and Abashidze 61st.
In women’s saber, Kim went undefeated after the first round of saber pools, with her first four victories of the season. Scott followed up with that performance by adding four victories of her own in the first round of saber pools. Novick rounded out the three saberists for the Nittany Lions with a victory.
Kim and Novick advanced past the second round of saber pools, earning five and three victories, respectively. Kim posted Penn State’s top outing of the day with a fifth place finish, Scott placed 31st and Novick placed 36th.
Penn State will continue the meet in Philadelphia on Sunday, October 26, when the men’s teams compete in the final day of the Nikki Franke Invitational.
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Follow along with the Penn State Fencing team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateFen) and X/Instagram (@pennstatefen). Live updates during competitions regarding meet day information and other important notes will be posted on X.