SOUTH BEND, Ind. (2/7/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's fencing programs returned to South Bend, Ind. this past weekend, going up against some of the top fencing squads in the country at the Northwestern Mega-Meet on Sunday. The meet was held on Notre Dame's campus this season.

The Titans men's fencing team finished with a 2-4 record on the day, earning wins over Incarnate Word (17-10) and Northwestern (18-9). Three of Detroit Mercy's four losses were against Top-20 opponents in the NCAA with the Titans falling to No. 14 California-San Diego (21-6), No. 15 North Carolina (20-7) and No. 19-ranked Air Force (17-10). The fourth loss was by just one bout with he Titans falling to Cal Tech, 14-13.

The Detroit Mercy women's squad went 1-6 during the day with the Titans earning their lone victory over Cal Tech, 21-6. Detroit Mercy fell against four ranked opponents, including No. 8 Temple (27-0) and No. 15 North Carolina (27-0). The Titans also fell against No. 17 California-San Diego (27-0), No. 20 Air Force (26-1), Farleigh Dickinson (24-3) and Incarnate Word (19-8).

Szumlas, Dressell, Carlisle Lead Men's Fencers
The trio of sophomore Algird Szumlas (foil), senior Austin Carlisle (sabre) and freshman Wiley Dressell (sabre) all recorded winning records during the day of competition. Szumlas went 12-4 overall with 3-0 marks against both Cal Tech and Northwestern and two wins each against Air Force, North Carolina and Cal-San Diego.

Carlisle and Dressell combined for 20 of Detroit Mercy's 23 sabre wins on the day. Carlisle earned an 11-4 record, going 3-0 against Air Force and Cal Tech. Dressell had a 9-5 mark, also posting 3-0 records with Air Force and Cal Tech, and going 2-1 vs. North Carolina.

In the epee, freshman Tahj Butler went 7-10 during the day with weapon-mate Aaron Dittel recording a 6-11 record for the Titans. Butler had a 3-0 record against Northwestern and Dittel earned two wins as the epee squad earned a 6-3 victory over Northwestern.

Sophomore Josh Blackburn earned four more wins in the foil, while Mikael Paulik added two victories in the weapon. John Engelman had two bout triumphs in the sabre. Josh Sexton, Christopher Morrison and Josef Provido all tallied bout wins as well for the Titans.

Spencer Leads Women's Fencers
Freshman Danielle Spencer earned four bout wins on Sunday to lead the Titan women's fencers against tough competition at Northwestern. The foil team earned nine victories on the day with freshman Kellie Hurst and junior Julian Slavsky adding three and two wins, respectively.

Sophomore Erica Tessmer led the sabre team with three victories for the Titans, with junior Nicole Fitch totaling two bout wins for Detroit Mercy.

On Tap
Detroit Mercy returns to competitive fencing next weekend, traveling just down the road to Wayne State for the WSU Duals on Saturday. It's the last dual match of the season before the Titans head to the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at Ohio State on Feb. 25-26.