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Two top-10 finishes helped the University of Detroit Mercy women's fencing team overcome not having an epee squad at the Midwest Fencing Conference team championships Sunday, as the Titans earned a 12th-place finish on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Detroit's women's team racked up 285 points, all from their foil and sabre squads, which earned 130 and 155, respectively. The women's team championship was claimed by Notre Dame, which posted a total of 650 points. UDM's men's and women's teams combined for a 12th-place finish with 520 points.

“We were expecting to do better than we did today,” said head coach Todd Dressell. “We fenced well, but in several weapons we lost our opening match and ended up in the losers' bracket. That's something that's really very difficult to overcome and leaves you at a major disadvantage.”

The women's foil squad suffered a tough 5-4 opening round loss at the hands of Purdue, and was then relegated to consolation bracket Sunday afternoon. But the trio of senior Ashley Colbert (Washington, MI/Romeo), sophomore Brittany Cook (Buton, MI/Owosso) and sophomore Megan McMahon (Macomb, MI/Dakota) bounced back, winning their next three matches in dominating fashion. Detroit posted a 5-0 victory over Iowa, a 5-1 win against Lawrence and ended the weekend by overpowering Michigan State, 5-1, to finish in ninth place.

Led by senior Ashlee McLemore (Detroit, MI/Renaissance), the women's sabre squad was the only group of Titans to post a win in their first-round match. McLemore, sophomore Samantha LaFrance (Macomb, MI/Dakota) and freshman Olivia Furnas (Macomb, MI/Dakota) opened with a 5-2 win over Purdue, but stumbled in their next two matches, a 5-0 loss to eventual champ Notre Dame and a 5-3 loss against crosstown foe Wayne State. But, a 5-1 victory over the University of Michigan in their final match gave the sabre squad a seventh-place finish.

“The women's sabre squad really did their job today,” said Dressell. “It's so important to win your first match and they did that. Both of our women's teams did well, and the top half is always where we set our sets.”

Detroit will return to Evanson, IL, and Northwestern University on Saturday for the NCAA Regional Qualifier, where the pressure will be off for some of the Titans.

“I really put a lot of pressure on our whole team for the conference championships,” said Dressell. “But the level of competition at the regional is just extraordinary, and we will work hard this week and try to do well with the fencers we have with us, but we can go in a bit more relaxed and just fence.”

McLemore, however, will be fencing at the regional meet with the hopes of earning a bid to the NCAA Championships from March 25-28.