Individual Results
 
NEW YORK (Feb. 14, 2016) – The Drew University women's fencing team has been named the recipient of the 2016 Team Spirit Award by the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC), whose coaches also selected head coach Vincent Paragano and his assistants as the EWFC Coaching Staff of the Year at the EWFC Championships at Hunter College on Sunday.
 
Following an eight-team round robin competition, and a direct elimination individual tournament by weapon at the 2016 EWFC Championships, freshman Caitlin Kotz was named to the Foil First Team All-Stars, and senior Sarah Silvestri made the Sabre Second Team All-Stars. The Rangers duo qualified for the individual competition by qualifying in the top 16 in records obtained from the round robin. Kotz finished third in the foil bracket, while Silvestri won a first round bout before bowing out in the quarterfinals.
 
As a team, the Rangers went 3-4 during the round robin with victories against the host Hunter College (18-9), City College of New York (18-9) and Yeshiva University (25-2). Drew dropped matches against Stevens Institute of Technology (22-5), Haverford College (16-11), Vassar College (18-9) and Johns Hopkins University (22-5).
 
Paragano, in the midst of leading an eye-opening turnaround season at Drew, was honored by the conference for producing two EWFC All-Stars for the first time in three years, and going 3-4 in the team competition after the Rangers combined for a 1-18 record over the three previous years at the EWFC year-end meet. Heading into the NIWFA and NCAA Regional Championships, Drew sports an overall record of 22-15.
 
Silvestri put together an 11-8 record in sabre to qualify for the direct elimination tournament. Seeded 10^th, the senior defeated the No. 7 seed, 15-14, before falling to the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals. In her final EWFC Championships, Silvestri makes a fourth consecutive All-Star Team. She was a Second Team selection as a freshman and a First Team selection in both her sophomore and junior season.
 
Kotz's rookies season receives another decoration with a First Team All-Star performance after going 14-6 in the round robin, qualifying as the No. 8 seed, and running all the way to the semifinals. After a close 15-12 loss to the eventual Foil Fencer of the Year in the semis, Kotz rebounded with a 15-11 victory in the third place bout.
 
Sabre again proved a specialty for the Rangers at the EWFC Championships with sophomore Pearl Sutter posting an 11-9 record and sophomore Natalia Dashnaw going 7-7. Both qualified for the direct elimination portion of the championships.
 
The Rangers travel to the prestigious Philadelphia Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 21, a makeup meet due to January's blizzard. The NIWFA Championships take place on Saturday, Feb. 27 and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regional Championships are slated for Saturday, March 12.